Legends Never Die
by Kyuubi123
Summary: Sequel to Naruto's True Nindo. Three years have passed and our heroes are older and stronger. Come see what adventures and threats await them as Akatsuki begins to make their move. Lemons later in story. Naru/hina, Haku/shino, Kaka/kur shika/tema and more
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Hey everyone! I'm happy to present the sequel to Naruto's True Nindo, Legends Never Die. I hope you all enjoy the story and hope to hear from you in a review!**

**(Konoha)**

Tsunade Senju, the fifth Hokage and leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, looked over her village from the top of the Hokage's tower. It had been three long years since the defeat of Orochimaru and the village was still slowly rebuilding its forces. She sighed as she looked at the mountain of paperwork that still awaited her attention. She turned to the door when she heard a knock.

"Tsunade-sama, Team eight has arrived." Sakura announced as she entered the room.

Tsunade smiled as she observed her newest pupil. Sakura had grown greatly over the years and was now considered one of her most talented chunin. The now sixteen year old stood before her a seasoned and respectful ninja. Her attire had changed over the years, though not by much. She still kept her hair short and her headband held her hair back, though the headband was now on pink cloth to match her hair. She wore a sleeveless dark pink vest and a beige skirt over black shorts. Lastly, she wore gloves and knee high boots.

The pink haired girl had entered the hospital three years ago and began to work her way up the ranks. Her nearly perfect chakra control as well as her ability to retain vast amounts of information made her an ideal medic ninja and this is what caught Tsunade's attention and what fueled her decision to offer the young woman the opportunity to apprentice under her. Tsunade had driven the young girl very hard, but she had excelled and was the third best medic in the village behind only Shizune, who was now the head medic over the hospital, and Tsunade herself.

"Thank you Sakura. Please send them in." Tsunade said as she went and took a seat behind her desk.

"Yes ma'am." Sakura said as she left.

Sakura had become her assistant after Shizune had taken over as the lead medic in the hospital. Shizune had decided to go her own way and was now Tsunade's equal and no longer just her apprentice. However, Tsunade did wish that Shizune were able to keep her dating life under better control. She could still remember when she had come into her office and found Shizune making out on her desk in the arms of her boyfriend, Asuma Sarutobi. The two jonin had blushed brightly at being caught and quickly left. Tsunade blushed for a moment when she remembered how Jiraiya had offered to help her "rechristen" her desk.

Tsunade was broken from her thoughts when the door was thrown open and her most successful team walked through the door. She took a moment to examine the young chunin team.

Shino had grown over the years and had changed his cloths. He now wore attire similar to his father with a hooded jacket that covered his head, leaving only a small portion of his face visible. Shino was now considered a forerunner among his clan with his innovative ideas. Unlike most Aburame, he was no longer satisfied with simply relying on his insects to get him through battle. He had found new ways to use them while strengthening himself in other aspects of combat. He believed that his clan had become predictable and any enemy that knew what his clan could do would be able to counter the clan's overused tactics. All in all, team eight followed Shino's lead in most of their missions as his analytical mind was above and beyond his teammates.

Tsunade's gaze next went to Hinata Yuhi. Tsunade couldn't help but smile at the young woman. Hinata was considered one of the most powerful and beautiful of the new chunin. The once shy, stuttering Hyuga girl was now a confident and bold kunoichi and many young academy students looked up to her. Hinata's hair was still long and fell to her middle back. She wore dark blue pants that fell to her ankles and heeled sandals, like Tsunade wore. Hinata had on a short sleeved indigo shirt with a lavender and white form fitting jacket. Her twin butterfly daggers were hidden in the sleeves of her jacket and could quickly be summoned to her hand with a simple twist of her wrists.

The most interesting thing about Hinata was still the faint, but visible intricate markings on her skin. It gave her a sort of mystical look and aura that went along with her kind and gentle nature. Hinata's natural beauty and strange but alluring markings made her one of the most sought after women in the village. However, all would be suitors were quickly, and violently, turned away by the last member of team eight.

Tsunade looked to the most powerful chunin that she had under her command. Naruto Uzumaki had grown the most. He now stood taller than even Shino and was now the tallest of the rookies. His attire had changed as well. He wore black pants with dark orange flames at the bottom and a long sleeved black shirt. He was the only one on the team that actually wore a chunin jacket, though his was also dark orange in color. His sword was still at his side and a long black trench coat hung on his back. The coat was unique as it had a serpentine gold dragon stitched in the back of it. The dragon stretched from the bottom of the coat all the way to the top, where the head was positioned.

Tsunade's eyes softened as she gazed at the young man. Naruto had grown very handsome and powerful over the years under the tutelage of Jiraiya and the mysterious man that still refused to reveal his identity. Naruto was hands down the most powerful of her chunin in terms of raw power. Having the power of the Kyuubi as well as the power of legendary dragons at his disposal was a large part of it, but that wasn't everything. The most powerful thing about Naruto was his determination and resolve. Most admitted that when around him, they couldn't help but feel more confident in victory and that he gave off an aura that dispelled fear and doubt.

'Just like his father.' Tsunade thought as she began to reminisce on the past.

Naruto was a perfect blend of his parents. He had Minato's looks but acted more like Kushina in terms of temperament when he was younger, though he now had Minato's control to balance out Kushina's fire. He had his father's resolve and determination and his mother's indomitable spirit. The will of fire had burned brighter in his parents than any other two ninja that Tsunade could think of and that was reflected in their son. The fact that Naruto's favorite color was orange also showed a nice blend of his parents. Minato was known as "Konoha's yellow flash" and Kushina was known as the "Red legion of death" due to her red hair and her ability, like her son, to create large numbers of shadow clones. Orange was after all a mixture of red and yellow.

"Team eight reporting for duty, Kaa-san." Naruto said in a deeper voice.

Tsunade couldn't help but fell a rush of warmth every time she heard Naruto refer to her as such. She had no children of her own and that wasn't likely to change. She loved him like a son and would do anything to help him, not only in remembrance of his parent's or because she loved him but also because she knew without a doubt that the future of the leaf village rested on his shoulders.

All of the rookies had become chunin over the years but team eight was her most productive. No matter the mission, they had been able to complete it barring one that had gone from bad to worse. She still didn't have all of the details but from what Naruto was willing to tell her, that mission had changed the team in some way. They all fought and trained harder than ever and there were still times when Tsunade would catch a depressed and sullen mood about them. She was determined to figure out what had happened to them. She shook off these thoughts as she addressed the team.

"Team eight, as you know, the past few years have been devoted to strengthening our weakened village. The attack during the chunin exams three years ago as well as Orochimaru's last assault left the village at roughly half its original strength. We have rebuilt and our strength is slowly returning. However, it isn't fast enough. There are already reports of rock and cloud ninja testing the strength of our borders and it is very possible that they will attack if we give the slightest hint of weakness." Tsuande rose to her feet and walked over to the window to observe the village that she loved.

"Would they really try something knowing that Naruto-kun and Jiraiya-sama are here? Also, we have an alliance with the Sand village so isn't that also a deterrent?" Hinata asked politely.

"I wish that were the case. However, the Sand village is still the weakest of the hidden villages and even with them as an ally, both the Cloud and Rock Villages have a numbers advantage, and should they work together.." Tsuande left the thought in the air.

"Let them try! We'll show them very quickly why Konoha has always come out on top." Naruto said with a fire in his eyes.

"Of that I have no doubt Naru-chan. However, it would be nice if we could avoid that altogether." Tsuande said with a smirk as she turned to face the team.

"What are you suggesting Tsunade-sama?" Hinata asked in a confused tone.

"The Mist village." Tsunade said simply. Naruto and Hinata looked unsure of her meaning and it was impossible to tell what Shino was thinking.

"The Mist village? What about them?" Naruto asked.

"You want an alliance with them. With the Mist village on our side along with the sand village, the Cloud and Rock Villages will be unwilling to attack. Despite their numbers, it is not wise to fight three of the five great villages at one time." Shino said in his usual tone.

"As insightful as always Shino." Tsunade said as she retook her seat.

"However, the Mist village is known mostly for their massacre of those wielding kekkei genkais. Is it truly wise to seek such an alliance Hokage-sama?" Shino asked with a raised eye brow.

Tsunade, like Naruto and Hinata, had known Shino long enough to realize that he was hardly as emotionless as some would assume. It was apparent that he was not exactly in favor of the Mist village because of their prejudice against those wielding blood lines like himself and Hinata. However, she was also sure that the biggest reason was connected not with himself but with Haku. The ice wielder had nearly been killed in the Mist village and considering Shino's affection for her, it was obvious that there was a bit of a grudge against the village in Shino's mind.

"I am well aware of this Shino. However, there has recently been new information about the village. It seems that a coup was staged and that the old Mizukage has been driven off. The village's new leader has been trying to open tries with other villages ever since as their village is at an all time low in terms of strength and economy right now. I believe that she is genuine and it would be a mistake to let such an opportunity slip by." Tsunade said.

"So why tell us? Don't you have diplomats for that sort of thing?" Naruto asked.

"You want us to go not only to possibly form an alliance but also to show the strength of the leaf village." Shino stated.

"Right again Shino. I'm sending your team in to try and form an alliance and a show of strength always helps these things along." Tsunade said simply.

She wanted to alliance but she also wanted the Mist village to know that trying to betray the leaf village in the future would have dire consequences. Sending team eight would display the strength of their village but it also served another purpose. Tsunade was unsure if she could trust that the Mist village's new leader truly had nothing against those who possessed a kekkei genkai and sending team eight in with two members that possessed blood line limits would be a sort of test to see how the Mist village reacted towards them.

"Will Kurenai-neesan be joining us?" Hinata asked.

"I'm afraid not. Like most jonin, she is currently taking on a majority of A ranked missions to keep up our show of strength. However, I do have a replacement in mind." Tsuande said with a smile. There was a knock at the door and Haku entered the room at Tsunade's acknowledgement.

Haku had blossomed into a fine young woman and while she had yet to actually become a jonin that was due more to her being disinclined to take the jonin test. Haku still wore the standard chunin attire, the only difference being that her long hair was held back in a ponytail with a butterfly clip that she received from Shino.

"Reporting for duty Hokage-sama." Haku said as she gave team eight a smile.

"I assume Haku is coming with us?" Shino said in a disapproving tone. Everyone could hear a faint buzzing sound, signifying his anger.

"It's alright Shino-kun." Haku said as she laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure? I will understand if you don't want to join." Naruto said. He would love to have Haku on his side, but he didn't want her to go back to a place that held such painful memories.

"I am sure. Trust me, I will be fine." Haku said with a comforting smile.

"Very well then. You will all leave for the Mist village in a few hours. Take that time to prepare yourselves. Also, should the mission go south I trust you all to make it back here safely." Tsunade said as they were dismissed.

"Are you okay Shino?" Naruto asked his friend as they left the office.

"Fine." He said softly as he turned and walked away. Naruto and Hinata looked to Haku, the best source on how to truly read their silent friend.

"He has a lot of conflicting emotions on his mind. I'll be sure to help." Haku said with a smile as she hurried to catch up to him.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Hinata asked.

"I'm sure of it. I kind of understand how he feels." Naruto said softly as his gaze never left the retreating back of the insect user.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked curiously.

Naruto turned to look at her as he grabbed her hand. Even after three years together, just the slightest touch from him would cause a blush to spread over her face.

"He's worried that someone there will recognize Haku's blood limit. He's afraid that he will lose her to those that still carry grudges from the blood line purges. It's the same way I feel about going there with you Hinata-chan. If anyone tries to assault you for your byakugan, then this diplomatic mission is going to be a failure." Naruto said with a smirk.

Hinata could only giggle as she knew that whoever was fool enough to attack her would quickly lose their head, literally. And it was unlikely that the new Mizukage would take kindly to the death of one of her villagers.

"Please try and control yourself Naruto-kun. This alliance is important for our village. Also.." Hianta said as she pulled her arm back and with a quick flick of her wrist, she released her twin daggers and had activated her byakugan. Her markings were glowing slightly, showing that she had indeed tapped slightly into the power of the angels.

"..I can take care of myself." She said with a smirk that was quickly smothered as Naruto pulled her into a kiss. What could he say? He thought she was incredibly sexy when she had that look in her eye. It was the same look that Anko had perfected. It screamed, "Mess with me and it will be the last thing you ever do!"

"I know you can Hinata-chan." He said after they broke the kiss and headed their separate ways to gather their supplies.

Haku had finally caught up with Shino and was calmly walking behind him. She knew that he was upset and was going to wait for him to acknowledge her. The insect that had become as precious to her as all her possessions expressed the depths of Shino's ire. It hadn't buzzed like this since Shino and the others had returned from there one and only failed mission. To this day, Shino refused to tell her what had happened but she knew that it still weighed on his mind.

"I wish to be alone Haku-chan."

"No you don't." Haku returned with a slight smile at the way his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. She could always read him perfectly and sometimes that was bothersome.

"Nothing is going to happen on this mission Shino-kun. While I am not completely pleased to be returning to the Mist village, the new Mizukage might have changed things for the better. I am also the one with the most knowledge of the village so it only makes sense that I accompany you." Haku said as she walked beside him and pulled his hood back. She didn't like that his new outfit hid more of his face and was the only person, aside from his mother, who could get him to remove it.

Haku then proceeded to remove his shades and force him to look her in the eye. She could see concern in his gaze and knew that it was for her. After that fateful mission he had become frantic in finding her and hadn't allowed her to leave his arms for hours. She was deeply concerned and Shino had become even more protective since then. The thought of going back to the village that had caused her so much pain filled him with fury and the thought of something happening to her filled him with bone chilling fear. Haku could see all of this in his eyes and was desperate to prove to him that nothing was going to happen to him, thus she pulled him close and lay her head on his chest.

Slowly, Shino's insects began to settle at her presence and he wrapped his arms around her. He took a deep breath and once he had released it he seemed to be more in control of him.

"I am sorry Haku-chan." Shino apologized as he pulled away from her.

"Just remember that nothing is going to happen. I can take care of myself and on the off chance that something does happen, you'll be there to help." She said with a smile as she walked off to get her gear.

Shino watched her for a while before pulling on his shades and hood. Nothing would happen to Haku, he refused to fail to protect her. He walked home to get his gear and bid his family goodbye.

**(West Gate)**

"Let's go already. What could be taking them so long?" Naruto said in an annoyed tone.

Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics. Despite how powerful he had become and having a fine control over his emotions, he was still full of energy just like when he was a child. The thing was that he had learned how to better control and apply that energy.

"I'm sure that they will be here Naruto-kun. Shino probably wants to be as prepared as possible." Hinata said. The last part of the statement was spoken in a somber tone.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Naruto said as he seemed to lose his energy. Their hands found one another and locked together as they drew strength from their love.

"Do you think it will ever get easier to think about?" Hinata asked with tears in her eyes.

"I doubt it." Naruto said in a gruff tone as he tried to keep his mind off the past.

"Here they come." Hinata said as she composed herself and put a small smile on her face.

Haku and Shino arrived hand in hand and Naruto and Hinata could see that Shino was in his usual relaxed mood. They had no doubt that Haku would be able to work things out with him as she seemed to truly be the only person that could.

"You ready?" Naruto asked as he turned to the open gate.

Shino replied with a simple nod and the four man chunin team headed out in the direction of the Hidden Mist village.

What none of them realized was that they were being observed. Itachi watched as the team left the village. Itachi had been keeping tabs on team eight and Naruto especially, over the past three years. The last Uchiha had been slightly surprised when the leader of the Akatsuki had approved of Itachi simply observing the boy. Kisame had been ordered to track down another demon container, leaving Itachi unsupervised.

"Kai-kun, what are you looking at?"

Itachi turned and looked at the only person that he had interacted with the past few years. Ayame had been his only source of human contact within the village. It was easy enough to avoid the anbu sweeps as he had been an anbu captain, thus he knew all of the routes and also knew what not to do to draw unwanted attention. To everyone who met him, he was simply another ordinary civilian living in the village. He had actually rented an apartment and with the large sum of money he had accumulated working for Akatsuki, he had no shortage of funds.

He was able to observe Naruto and his progress from afar. He was never remotely close by when Naruto was training but he was able to see how the young boy had grown into a powerful opponent and he believed that he had finally found the opponent that had the power to defeat him.

"Kai-kun are you alright?" Ayame asked as she came up beside him.

Itachi focused on the brown haired girl and for the first time in a long time felt conflicted. He had originally befriended Ayame to learn more about Naruto and Hinata. It had worked very well but he had never thought of the possibility of her becoming more to him than a simple source of information on an opponent. She had become his only point of human contact and he couldn't help but feel something towards the young woman.

He had been visiting the ramen stand frequently and had become a regular. Ayame had inquired about his name and he had simply told her that his name was Kai. Ayame was all too happy to tell anyone that wanted to hear about how great Naruto was. Itachi had actually gained more information on Naruto than he was truly seeking. However, after a small amount of time, she had become interested in him and his interests. He had been short with her and only told her the bare minimum. However, this seemed to only pique the interest of the young woman and she had made a vow to not only have him remove his hood one day, but also learn about everything that he was hiding from her. Itachi was shocked to find that instead of being annoyed with her, he found her to be an intriguing woman.

'I need to keep my mind on my mission.' Itachi thought as he turned and continued walking towards the stand. He was helping Ayame with her groceries as he truly had nothing else better to do.

Ayame watched as Kai walked away. He was so mysterious and she was a woman that loved a good mystery. She hadn't learned much about him and she had tried everything. She had shared almost everything about herself and while he had patiently listened, he refused to accept the invitation to speak more about himself. She had actually tried to physically remove his cloak only for him to evade her every attempt no matter how sneaky she thought she was being. She actually thought that he took pleasure in annoying her. He was absolutely the most frustrating person she had ever met.

And yet, there was something about him that intrigued her. While he didn't speak often, she knew that he was always listening to her, no matter what she felt like talking about. No one had ever tried to mess with the stand again after he had handled the last group. The man that Ayame had run off had come back with friends and she had feared the damage they would cause. Kai had calmly walked over and sent them all away in fear with a look. The leader, however, he sent to the hospital with a few broken bones just to get the message across. He always helped her even when she hadn't asked him to and she could swear that he would stare at her from time to time as if trying to figure something out. Ayame didn't know what she felt for Kai, but there was definitely something there.

'Still, I doubt he feels the same.' Ayame thought with a sigh.

"Are you alright?"

Ayame jumped when Kai appeared right in front of her. She hadn't even noticed him turn around and move towards her.

"I'm fine! Stop scaring me like that!" She said with a blush of embarrassment. She walked ahead of him and could swear that she heard a chuckle from him, but that was impossible as Kai never laughed. In fact she could hardly remember him showing any significant emotion.

'I had better update the leader on Naruto's departure.' Itachi thought as he followed Ayame. The leader had always desired an update on when Naruto left the village for a mission. While he had yet to order a move against any of the containers, he still wanted to be updated on anything they were doing.

**(Unknown location)**

The leader of the mercenary group Akatsuki looked on as the projections of the members of the group began to appear one by one. Itachi's was the last to appear as usual and he had been the one to call the meeting.

"Itachi what do you have to report?" The man asked.

"The Kyuubi the container has left on a mission. His destination is unknown." Itachi stated calmly.

"I still don't see why you don't just grab the kid Itachi." Kisame stated to his partner.

"He hasn't because I have yet to give that order Kisame. Control yourself." The leader said in a tone that shut the rogue mist ninja's mouth. There was no doubt amongst the group who the most powerful was.

"The time has come for us to move our plan to the next stage. Deidara, Sasori, I want the two of you to make your way towards Suna. The rest of you finish locating your assigned targets." He ordered.

"Do you want us to capture the one tails container?" Deidara asked.

"Not just yet, first what for the Kyuubi container to return to Konoha." The leader stated.

"I hate waiting." Sasori stated after a moment as the projections began to disappear.

"Soon, very soon my ambition will be realized." The leader said softly as his companion looked on behind him.

**(With team eight)**

Team eight was nearing the border of fire country and heading towards the mist village. They had refrained from speaking very much as they were focused on their mission. They had partaken in a number of missions over the years but never had they been tasked with one so important. Achieving a treaty with the Mist village was a huge responsibility. It literally could mean the difference between another great ninja war and continued peace across the lands. Haku was on point as she knew the direction. Shino was by her side and Naruto and Hinata brought up the rear.

"How much longer Haku?" Naruto asked as they continued on.

"We still have a ways to go Naruto. You'll know when we're close as a dense fog will begin to envelope us. It is a natural occurring phenomenon that helps to keep the Mist village hidden." Haku answered. The group travelled for a while longer and turned in for the night.

Naruto had the first night shift and looked up at the full moon. It had been a long time since he had just taken a moment to look at the moon and ponder the direction of his life. Normally he had either been in training with Jiraiya and the mysterious man or on a fast paced mission. However, that had changed recently. Jiraiya had left to check on his spy network and the mysterious man had disappeared suddenly one day after saying that he had nothing else to teach Naruto and the rest would be up to him. Naruto remembered asking for him to reveal who he truly was. The man had looked at him and simply said.

"_The next time we meet, you'll find out."_

Naruto felt a pulse form his sword and pulled it out. It was much the same as it had always been except for one thing. On the handle of the sword were a few jewels. There were six gems in number and each was a different color. The color of the gem actually represented one of the six dragons that Naruto had the ability to summon. Currently five of the gems were giving a faint glow signifying that Naruto had gained the respect and the right to summon that particular dragon. Naruto looked at each gem and thought of the dragon they represented.

The ruby gem was for Drac, the first dragon he had summoned and the one he was closest to. Drac was his closest ally amongst the dragons and was normally the one who would answer any questions that Naruto had.

The white gem was for Tetsuya the ice dragon. She had given him the right to call upon her only because Drac vouched for him. Their relationship was a bit strained as, like her element, she could be a bit cold and heartless. Still she was very powerful and Naruto was glad to have her.

The blue gem was for the water dragon. Naruto had only called upon her once and she seemed to have the least to say compared to her siblings.

The green gem was for the wind dragon. Naruto actually got along with him very well as Naruto's primary element was wind. As such, the dragon was a great source of information and inspiration when Naruto was working on wind manipulation.

The brown gem was for the earth dragon and he was by far the most irritating of the bunch. He was the eldest amongst the entire group and was surly and cranky. He had actually demanded to be allowed to go back to sleep the first time Naruto summoned him. Needles to say, Naruto didn't call upon him very often.

Naruto looked at the sole gem that was not glowing. It was the black gem that represented the dragon lord of lightening. No matter who he talked to, every dragon told him the same thing, to NEVER call upon their older brother. Naruto asked why and they all agreed that he would probably kill Naruto the first chance he got. He was undoubtedly the most powerful of them all, as the others seemed to have a healthy respect/fear of him.

'I will figure out what your problem with humans is and I will summon you at some point.' Naruto thought as he put his sword away.

'**Not a good idea kit.**' Naruto groaned as Kyuubi decided to make his opinion known.

Naruto had been able to talk freely with the fox without having to enter his mindscape for a year now. It had come about as Jiraiya taught Naruto how to draw upon more of the fox's power. However, it had an unfortunate side effect being that Kyuubi could read Naruto's thoughts and talk to him whenever he wanted to. A privilege that the fox had been exploiting to annoy Naruto whenever he felt like it.

'What have I told you about reading my thoughts without my permission?' Naruto asked the great demon.

'**The fact that you assume I care about your permission amusing me greatly.**' Kyuubi returned with a chuckle.

'Whatever, do you have something worth discussing or are you simply trying to annoy me?' Naruto asked.

'**Give up trying to call upon the lightening dragon. He was the only one amongst them that could fight me to a standstill. Do you really want such a powerful beast to be summoned especially when his temperament is even worse than my own?**' Kyuubi asked in a curious tone.

Naruto didn't have an answer to that question, thus he simply ignored the fox. He felt a tingle from the sword and knew that it was trying to communicate something, though he couldn't really tell what that was. He felt anticipation and a bit of a warning from the blade. Naruto took this to mean that this mission was going to be interesting and dangerous.

'What else is new? As long as it doesn't turn out like the last one.' Naruto thought darkly.

'**You need to let that go. There was nothing you could have done.**' Kyuubi said in a tone that was both sympathetic and irritated. Whenever Naruto was upset, the dreamscape would darken and Kyuubi hated it.

Naruto said nothing as he turned and went to wake up Shino for his turn at night shift. As Naruto crawled into his tent he smiled down at the slumbering form of Hinata. Like Shino and Haku, they would be sharing a tent for the duration of the mission. Naruto lay beside her, and as if she could feel his presence, Hinata shifted over and snuggled into Naruto's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and soon was asleep. He would worry about tomorrow when it arrived.

**(Unknown location)**

"I heard that our honorable Mizukage is seeking an alliance with Konoha!" A dark form whispered.

"It's bad enough that she's in charge but to call upon a hidden village known for their numerous kekkei genkais for an alliance is spitting upon the pride of the Mist village." His partner agreed.

"Don't worry, I have a plan to solve most of our problems and put our rightful leader back in control." The third member stated softly as the three leaders of the revolt continued to discuss their plans on returning the Mist village to its past glory.

**(End)**

**Here's the first chapter done! I hope you liked it and hope to have the next one out soon enough. What happened on that fateful mission that seems to plague team eight? What suprisies await them in the Mist village?**

**That is to be revealed! Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**(Team eight)**

Haku was on point as team eight slowly moved through the dense fog. They had first noticed the phenomenon a few hours ago. The fog was a perfect defense for the Mist ninja and it was one of the major reasons that no village had been able to conquer the Mist village for so long. However, Haku knew exactly how to maneuver through the dense obstacle and had taken command.

"How much longer Haku?" Naruto asked as he continued to gaze in all directions. He couldn't shake the eerie feeling that they were being stalked.

"Not much longer Naruto." Haku said as she continued to concentrate on where she was going.

Shino stopped all of a sudden and looked to his right. Everyone was instantly on alert and gazed into the Mist. Shino's stance was wary, as if he too sensed something but was unsure of what it was.

"Shino?" Hinata asked as she pulled out a pair of kunai.

"…It's nothing." Shino said after a moment.

The others were not convinced but they continued on regardless. However, every one of them was on high alert. They hadn't walked that much longer before Haku saw a brief shadow out the corner of her eye. She turned swiftly but saw nothing.

"We're being stalked." Naruto said with a look of annoyance. Naruto was not much for stealth, preferring to attack an enemy head on more times than not. He of course could be stealthy if he wished, but he simply preferred a straight fight.

"So it seems." Shino said as a few insects flew out of his coat.

"Stay calm. Let's not make any rash actions." Hinata said softly as she put her kunai away.

"It is possible that they are simply from the Mist village and are curious as to our presence." Hinata added as the others looked at her.

"Then why haven't they come out and questioned us?" Naruto asked, still having a bad feeling about this.

Hinata didn't have time to answer before the group scattered as multiple kunai and shuriken appeared from the fog. They split up into two groups, Naruto with Hinata and Shino with Haku. Naruto pulled out his sword and was back to back with Hinata.

"Can you see them Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked softly to his girlfriend.

"There are four of them. Two are coming for us and the other two are going for Shino and Haku." Hinata said softly as she had already activated her byakugan.

"They must really be underestimating us." Naruto muttered as he saw two dark figures appear before them. The figure made no move to attack just yet and thus Naruto refrained from making the first move.

"What is your purpose in our land?" the figure asked in a suspicious manor.

"We are the envoy from Konoha. We were sent to speak to the Mizukage about a possible treaty." Hinata responded as she walked beside Naruto, she had deactivated her byakugan so as not to give away one of her secrets.

"We don't need the help of a village such as yours. Go back the way you came before we remove you ourselves." The second mist ninja said.

"Sorry, but we were given a mission and don't forget that it was your leader that asked for such an alliance. I doubt she would take kindly to you circumventing her commands." Naruto said with a smirk. If they thought that they could intimidate him then they were truly insane.

"Well, if something tragic were to happen to you and you never made it to the village, I suppose that she would never have to find out would she?" The first ninja said as both of them faded into the fog.

"How annoying." Naruto muttered as he put his sword away. He wouldn't need it. These two may have talked tough but they were not nearly strong enough to defeat them. Naruto waited for a moment before ducking. The first ninja had tried to circle around and strike Naruto in to back. Naruto didn't have to worry about retaliating as Hinata was already in motion. She struck the mist ninja in the chest with a jyuuken strike that disabled his lungs. He fell to the ground, desperately trying to breath.

While Hinata dealt with the first ninja, Naruto had straightened and was currently looking for the second. The fog was a lot like his piercing darkness technique. Naruto closed his eyes and waited as Hinata tied up the first mist ninja. Naruto turned and launched a kick to his left, catching the second ninja in the head and knocking him out.

"You guys rely too much on the fog to cover your movements. It doesn't work all that well against someone used to fighting when he can't' see." Naruto said as he grabbed the downed ninja and threw him over his shoulder. He walked over to Hinata and they waited for Shino and Haku to join them.

Shino and Haku had an even easier time defeating their opponents. Haku, like Zabuza, was highly skilled in the silent killing technique and thus the movements of the two mist ninja were as clear as day to her. She quickly disabled the first with a few senbon to his joints. The other tried to attack her from behind but suddenly fell to the ground as the insects Shino had released earlier drained him of his chakra.

"That was a bit disappointing." Naruto said with a look of annoyance. Naruto loved a good fight and the little skirmish that had just taken place couldn't even be considered a warm up to him. He blamed Anko's influence for his affection for a good battle.

"I do wonder what made them think that they could defeat us, being such low level ninja." Hinata said as they looked at the four tied up mist ninja.

"They can't be any higher than genin. What are they doing protecting the Mist's borders?" Haku said thoughtfully. Shino was silent though he had a contemplative look on his face.

"What happened here?"

Team eight turned as a squad of Mist hunter ninja appeared out of the fog. Their sudden appearance had caught all of the members of team eight by surprise, except for Shino. These were the ones that he had sensed earlier. There were five of them in number and the leader was in an aggressive stance.

"Attacking a group of Mist ninja is a serious offense." The leader said in a cold tone.

"Would you like to explain why you allowed a team of genin to attack another village's ninja on a peaceful mission?" Shino asked to the leader, showing no fear.

The other members of team eight were surprised with Shino's statement, though they kept their surprised reactions to themselves.

The hunter captain actually gave a slight chuckle at the question and nodded his head as his members walked over to free the captured ninja. Team eight moved back and allowed them by, though none had lowered their guard.

"My apologies, we have only recently begun to promote new ninja. They seemed eager for a fight and I was content to allow them to learn their lesson the hard way." The leader said.

"And you also wanted to observe our skills yourself." Naruto stated in a stony tone.

The leader of the hunter ninja gave no reply though his silence was answer enough.

"Follow us. We will lead you back to our village." He stated as his group turned and began to move through the fog. Team eight had hung back for a moment before following.

"I don't like this." Nauruto whispered. He didn't like being made to jump through hoops and the fact that they had just gone through what amounted to an audition for a group that they were trying to form an alliance with irked him.

"It's the way of the world Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a sigh.

'Allies shouldn't be so suspicious of one another.' Naruto thought to himself.

'**Don't be a fool boy! Despite the fact that you are trying to form an alliance, it is very possible that they see you as a future threat. If this treaty doesn't get made then at least they have some information on your team. This is the thinking of your world. Trust no one, not even potential allies. In fact, it is your allies that are the most likely to betray you in the first place.**' Kyuubi said with a snort at Naruto's idealistic thoughts.

'Whatever.' Naruto thought as he continued to walk behind the Mist anbu.

It wasn't long before they appeared at the gates of the Mist village. The anbu talked silently to the gate ninja before the leaf ninja were allowed in the village hidden in the Mist. The four leaf ninja observed the village with its numerous cylindrical buildings and the mountains in the background.

For Naruto, Hinata, and Shino, it was a new experience. However, for Haku is was simply a scene that brought forth painful memories. Haku couldn't help but look around and remember the pain and suffering that she had gone through before Zabuza had found her.

Shino walked beside her and she took comfort from his presence. He didn't want to show any outward affection just yet as they were unsure of who was watching. It wouldn't do for potential enemies to know that they were so attached to one another.

"Follow us. We will escort you to the Mizukage." The anbu captain said.

Team eight followed behind him and they noticed the attention they were drawing. Many of the civilians were giving them guarded looks. It was rare that foreign ninja were seen in the mist village and they were both curious and suspicious of the Konoha shinobi.

They walked on until Naruto suddenly stopped and turned around. He could have sworn that he had just felt a hint of killing intent directed towards them. However, it had vanished quickly and he couldn't determine where it had come from with so many people around.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked at his hesitation.

"It's nothing." Naruto said softly as his eyes narrowed. He had a bad feeling and it was only getting worse.

"Hurry up. Mizukage-sama doesn't like being held up." The anbu captain said as he opened the door to the largest building that must have served as the Mizukage's personal quarters.

A mist jonin looked on from the crowd and his eyes narrowed slightly. The blonde chunin had obviously noticed the minute killing intent that had been sent his way. This showed that he was highly trained and not an easy target.

'No matter. I'm sure that those genin have at least some information about their fighting styles. I'll see if I can't obtain whatever they found out.' The jonin thought as he followed the group of anbu that were taking the genin in for questioning.

Team eight walked up the tower until they came to large double doors that were the entrance to the Mizukage's office. The anbu lead them inside and ordered them to wait while he told the Mizukage of their arrival. The leaf ninja were sure that they were being watched and the fact that they were left alone was simply a test to see whether or not they would try and gather information that might be scattered around the office.

After a few minutes, the door behind them opened and team eight turned to look at the entering occupants. There were three in number. Two were men and the figure in the middle was obviously the Mizukage, wearing her robes and kage hat that covered her face.

The man on the left had blue hair and was wearing attire similar to what Haku had worn all those years ago in Wave country. This man was obviously part of the Mist's anbu and his stance and aura revealed him to be a seasoned and experienced ninja. He had a talisman in each of his ears and a strange patch over his right eye.

The other man was younger and he seemed nervous. He was slumped over a bit and his eyes would dart away from team eight's faces. He also had blue hair and wore a striped long sleeve shirt and camouflage pants. The most interesting thing about him was the strange object on his back. It looked to be a double-handled sword wrapped in bandages. Although he seemed unsure of himself and a bit nervous, his aura was powerful.

"Mizukage-sama, we thank you for allowing us to enter your village." Shino said as he bowed before the Mist's leader. Despite how Shino felt about the Mist, his voice showed nothing but respect. The rest of the leaf ninja bowed as well.

The Mizukage didn't reply though she did observe the team before her. While they couldn't see anything descriptive about her as her robes and hat concealed her features, she could easily see them and was assessing the team before her.

The blue haired female seemed powerful and unless she missed her guess, she would say that the girl was a Hyuga with her pale skin and lavender eyes. The one who spoke to her was obviously an Aburame as she had heard from her anbu about his use of insects. The one in the middle was a mystery to her. He was the tallest and from what she had been told from Tsunade, this was the boy that was like a son to the leaf leader. She was sure that Tsunade told her this for two reasons.

First of all, it was a gesture of good faith as Tsunade was telling her that she trusted her son under the Mizukage's care. However, there was another reason. It was also a warning that should anything happen to the blond or his team, then Tsunade would unleash the wrath that only a mother could achieve against the Mist village.

The Mizukage turned her eyes to the last member of the team. She had black hair and was oddly familiar to the mist leader. The Mizukage walked over to Haku and the leaf ninja tensed for a moment as the Mist's leader seemed to stare at Haku.

Shino moved closer to Haku as Naruto and Hinata both shifted ever so slightly in a way that would allow them to defend their two friends. The hunter ninja and the strange young man were not oblivious to the movement and both seemed to tense in preparation as well.

For a few seconds there was utter silence as everyone watched the Mizukage.

They were all surprised when she wrapped her arms around Haku with a delighted laugh and swung the poor girl around happily.

"Haku-chan!" The Mizukage shouted in joy.

'What's going on?' Everyone else thought with a sweat drop.

The Mizukage lowered the young girl once she realized that Haku still didn't recognize her and removed her hat and robes, despite the hunter ninja's sudden outcry at her revealing herself so openly to foreign ninja.

The Mizukage was a slender attractive woman. She had ankle length, auburn hair that was styled in a herringbone pattern at the back, a top knot tied with a blue band, and with four bands at the front. Two were short and covered her right eye. The other two were long crossing each other over her chest. Her eyes were a light green.

She wore a long sleeved blue dress that fell to her knees. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh shirt that covered more of her upper body but stopped short of covering her shoulders and left a sizable amount of her cleavage uncovered. She wore blue shorts with mesh leggings underneath them that reached under her knees. Furthermore, she wore high heeled sandals and shin guards that reached up over her knees.

All in all, she was a striking woman that rivaled Tsunade's beauty.

"Kaa-san!" Haku shouted as she hugged the red haired Kage.

'Kaa-san!' Once again, all of the ninja in the office were stunned silent by the display of the two women hugging one another while laughing happily.

"Um, Haku would you mind explaining what's going on?" Naruto asked as he tried to process what had turned from a possible combat scene to a family reunion.

"Yes, I would like an explanation as well." Shino said with a frown. Haku had always told them that her parents' were dead. Zabuza had become something of a father figure to her but she had said nothing of a woman.

Haku let go of the Mizukage and turned to address her friends. She knew that Shino was feeling a tad bit hurt that she hadn't shared this with him and was quick to correct that oversight on her part.

"Let me explain Haku-chan. My name is Mei Terumi, the fifth Mizukage. As for how Haku knows me, well who do you think showed her how to use her kekkei genkai? Zabuza-kun has no idea how they really work and only someone with experience in using blood limits could have taught her." Mei said with a smirk.

"Mizukage-sama!" The anbu said in a shocked tone. He was shocked that his leader was not only so close to another country's ninja but she had just practically told them that she too had a kekkei genkai.

"Relax Ao. If we are going to be allies then we shouldn't be so suspicious of one another." Mei said as she looked at her anbu captain.

"Yes, but…" Ao said before Mei appeared before him in an instant.

"You aren't about to ruin my reunion with my daughter are you Ao?" Mei said in a sweet tone. She had a smile on her face but the killing intent that she released was enough to even impress Naruto.

"No ma'am. Forgive me." Ao said as he bowed.

"Mei-sama, this girl is your daughter?" The other young man asked, still shocked by the revelation.

"Yes she is Chojuro. She might not be related to me by blood but she is undoubtedly mine." Mei said as she released her killing intent and spoke to the young swordsman. Chojuro blushed brightly under the gaze of Mei. It was obvious the young man had something of a crush on his leader.

"I'll take over from here Kaa-san." Haku said as she turned to address her friends.

Haku went on to explain how she had come to meet Mei. Shortly after Zabuza found Haku and realized the girl had a kekkei genkai, he began to train her hoping to turn her into a powerful weapon to use against the current Mizukage. The fourth Mizukage, named Yagura, was a powerful yet evil man that seemed possessed in regards to wiping out all those that could wield kekkei genkais.

Zabuza had no stomach for what the man was doing. While the Demon of the Mist had no qualms about killing other ninja, he found it foolish to kill those in their own village. It only weakened them and made them look weak. Also, though he would never admit it, it was after finding the broken and nearly dead Haku that Zabuza decided to do something about Yagura.

Zabuza discreetly went around finding those that held a similar mindset as he and that is how he met and Mei. At first he was suspicious as she had always been a high ranking member of Yagura's cabinet. That she would want to betray the Mizukage was not something that Zabuza would have expected. However, she like him couldn't stand what was happening to the people of their village and agreed to work with him. Mei was introduced to Haku and she had taken the young girl under her wing and began to help her develop her ice abilities. Slowly, Mei and Zabuza began to gather more and more people to their side.

However, things quickly turned south when Yagura heard whispers of a coup taking place. He began to investigate all of his ninja and Mei came under his direct scrutiny. At a meeting held with all of the swordsmen of the Mist as well as his high ranking shinobi, Yagura began to question Mei and seemed ready to have her executed just in case.

Zabuza had acted quickly and proclaimed that he was the leader of the group and attacked Yagura. Mei of course was shocked by the action, which didn't go unnoticed by Yagura and effectively ended his suspicion of the woman.

Zabuza quickly fled with the Mist ninja on his heels. He gathered up Haku and the demon brothers along with roughly half of their forces and tried to flee. However, Yagura and his forces came down upon them and the only ones to escape where Zabuza, the demon brothers and Haku. Zabuza and Haku had tried to keep tabs on Mei and the continued resistance but lost contact with her not long after and both came to the sorrowful conclusion that the red haired woman had been killed, despite Zabuza's performance.

"After the attack, Yagura had locked the village down so tight that almost everyone was being watched by the hunter nins. I wasn't able to contact them until more and more ninja began to turn rogue and Yagura had to send out the hunter ninjas on missions." Mei said as she began to fill in the blanks on what had happened after Zabuza had fled.

"After that happened, I began to gather our forces and it was easier than I before. Most of the newer generation of shinobi began to resent Yagura and only the most die-hard fanatics continued to support him. It was only a year ago that I was able to finally take control from him. Even then we weren't able to capture him. He fled and we haven't heard a thing about his whereabouts." Mei concluded the story as she went to sit down in her chair behind her desk.

"By the way Haku-chan, where is Zabuza-kun?" Mei asked in a strange tone. It seemed to be inquisitive, hopeful, and slightly fearful all at once. She had heard that he had perished in combat against leaf shinobi and also believed that Haku had fallen with him. However, as her daughter was still alive, she was hopeful that that stubborn man had survived as well.

"He is alive Kaa-san. He is currently in Wave country. That was the last mission that we went on before we met my friends and he told me to go back to Konoha with him as Yagura was still in control of Mist and he didn't want to be found." Haku said with a smile as she noticed the gleam that came into Mei's eyes.

Haku was sure that there was always something going on between Zabuza and Mei, though Zabuza refused to acknowledge it. Zabuza was always a cold heartless man until her met Haku and Mei, he then slowly began to change. However, when he believed Mei to be dead, he had cut himself off emotionally from even Haku.

"Ao, send someone to fetch Zabuza for me. It's time he and I finished some business." Mei said with a smile.

Ao muttered something under his breath and in Mei's mind she heard him say something about her being too old to marry anyway.

"Ao, I would shut up if I were you, unless you want to meet and early death." Mei said with a wide smile and surgery tone. Ao quickly rushed out of the room, knowing Mei's temper. Naruto chuckled as she reminded him a bit of Anko.

"Now that that is taken care of why don't we get down to discussing this treaty?" Mei said as she smiled at team eight, though the killer edge had faded from her eyes.

'Maybe things will go better than I thought.' Naruto thought with a smile as team eight presented Mei with the terms Tsunade had given them and they began to negotiate.

**(Mist Jail)**

A male mist jonin walked into the jailhouse that housed a multitude of prisoners. Many of them were ninja who had fought with or believed in Yagura's doctrines. After Yagura's retreat, his men were given the offer to either surrender or die. Many chose death but a majority of them were captured alive and placed in prison.

The male jonin calmly walked down the halls ignoring the shouts and screams coming from the inmates. He was here for a specific person in mind. He came to the cell and nodded to the hunter nin that were keeping guard.

"You are wasting your time." One of the hunter ninja stated.

"You never know. Having him with us will help out greatly." The jonin stated with a smirk as he entered the cell and looked at the bound man before him.

The prisoner was spread eagle with his wrists and ankles wrapped in thick, chakra draining chains. The man had long green hair that fell to his shoulders and his jade green eyes bored into the jonin's. He was a large man and had three distinct scars that ran from his hairline to his chin on the right side of his face.

"What do you want? Surly you haven't come to try and convince me to join the Mist under that woman's command?" The green haired man said with a snort.

"And If I was?" The jonin calmly replied.

"Then you truly are an idiot. You think I'm going to willingly serve a woman that wants us to change the way things have been for years? The Mist was known for our brutality and blood thirst. Smaller countries trembled at the very mention of us! Yet she takes power and the first thing she wants is for us to make peace with others. Peace is a dream. Only power matters in a world like this." The man said as he smiled showing his sharp pointy teeth.

The jonin looked at the man before him. His name was Yukio and he truly lived like what his name meant. He was a man that denied himself nothing. If he wanted it then he sought to attain it. However, what he normally wanted resulted in the deaths of quite a few people. He was a man that was ruled by his impulses, regardless of the consequences and was one of Yagura's biggest and most powerful followers. After all, Yukio was one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist. He was so powerful that it was Mei herself that had defeated the man and placed him in jail.

"Indeed. And what would you do if you were ever allowed to leave?" The jonin asked in a neutral tone.

"I would first take my revenge on that red haired woman that dared to fight me. Next I would take my revenge on all those that supported her and made our village into the weak laughing stock that it is now." Yukio said without a moment's pause.

The jonin sighed and began to drone on about how Yukio should reconsider. However, his words were empty as his hands began to slowly sign a different message to the bound man. The jonin's name was Gihen and he was one of the three ring leaders that wanted to overthrow Mei. He, like his two comrades, had at one point believed in Mei's idea until they realized what she was doing to the village. They believed that to ask for an alliance with another country was insane, especially one that held kekkei genkais in such high esteem.

He began signing their plan. They would need the help of a few powerful ninja. They didn't plan on raising a large force. They instead were going to recruit a few powerful ninja and quietly take out Mei and her top supporters. Once they were out of the way then it would be easy to retake control.

Yukio gave an evil smile as he continued to play along by yelling and cursing Gihen. From what he was interpreting told, Gihen had a plan on getting him out of here. Once that happened, Yukio smiled brightly at the possibility to finally put Mei in her place. His smile grew lustful as he imagined the things he would do to the woman once he had beaten her.

After all, he would deny himself nothing that he wanted.

**(Mist village)**

Team eight walked around the village after their meeting with Mei. Things had gone very smoothly as the red haired woman was willing to do just about anything to form an alliance with the leaf after she heard that Haku was living there. They had left the ice maiden to catch up with her mother figure as they walked around the village.

Despite Mei's enthusiasm, the rest of the village seemed at best indifferent and at worst suspicious of the leaf ninja. Naruto had caught more than a few people looking at Hinata for a bit too long. Some of these gazes were from men who were captivated by the blue haired beauty. Others were from people that seemed to know, or suspect, that she possessed a bloodline limit. Needles to say, Naruto was on a constant guard.

However, he didn't feel the slight killing intent that he had felt when they had arrived. He deduced that this meant that it had truly only come from one person and a ninja at that as no civilian would have been able to restrain their killing intent so quickly once Naruto had gained notice of it. He got an agitated feeling from both Kyuubi and his sword and this kept him on edge.

Hinata observed the village in a different light. While she was very aware that many people were suspicious of them, she also noticed that some were accepting and even cordial to the ninja. She was happy that they had another ally and knew that eventually the Mist villagers would become accustomed to the alliance and they would warm up to the leaf village.

She caught a few men giving her appreciative looks and was careful to ignore them. Naruto was as overprotective as he was passionate in his love for her. He had sent more than a few leaf inhabitants to the hospital for getting far too friendly with her. She tried to explain that she could take care of herself but Naruto simply couldn't help himself.

Hinata looked down as a ball rolled in front of her. A young girl ran up to retrieve it, though she stopped a few feet from the leaf ninja giving an uncertain look. For a moment it seemed that time had stopped as the nearby villagers watched with tense breath.

Hinata grabbed the ball and kneeled down to the girl's level. She held the ball out with a soft smile and the young girl instantly lost her frightened look and ran up to grab the object from Hinata's hands. Hinata patted the girl on the head as she caught up to her male teammates. The atmosphere seemed to ease as those watching smiled at the kind nature of the young woman.

Maybe these leaf ninja weren't so bad, they thought.

**(Mei house)**

Haku looked around Mei's small home with a smile on her face. She had never thought that she would once again see her mother. Mei had been a huge influence for Haku after Zabuza had found her. The female kage taught her how to use her kekkei genkai and was also there to comfort and help her grow as Zabuza at the time was still his cold and unemotional self. Haku had completely shut out everyone but Zabuza until Mei had torn down her walls and taught her to trust again.

"Haku-chan, is something wrong?" Mei asked as she sat down on her couch and looked over a small scrap book that she had made back when they were all working together.

They never knew if or when Yagura would discover their plot and destroy them all. Thus Mei had taken as many pictures as she could to capture priceless moments. She was currently gazing at a photo where Haku had created her first ice mirror. The young girl had been so happy at finally achieving this that her face broke into a huge smile. Zabuza had said simply that it would suffice though Mei had grabbed the girl and twirled her around in joy. She had chastised Zabuza for being so cold, though she would slowly begun to fall for the cold hearted swordsman and worm her way into his heart along with Haku.

Mei's eyes began to tear as she remembered thinking that they had both perished by Yagura's hands and it only fueled her burning desire to defeat the man and create the village that they had all hoped for.

"I'm fine Kaa-san. It's just so good to see you." Haku said as she sat beside Mei and looked at the album.

"Likewise, my daughter." Mei said as they continued to look at the memories.

"Haku-chan are you happy in Konoha?" Mei asked after a few minutes.

"I am very happy there Kaa-san. It has become home for me." Haku said as she thought both about her village as well as the people that dwelled there.

"Wouldn't you like to stay here?"

Haku looked up to Mei in shock. She had truly never thought about returning to the Mist village. It had held so many bad memories for her that she had nearly wiped its existence from her memory.

'But what about now? Kaa-san is the leader, Tou-san will be arriving soon enough as well, and the village is finally turning into the peaceful and united home that I always sought. Could I really turn my back on the leaf and Shino-kun?' Haku thought as she grew very conflicted on the issue.

Mei, noticing this, wrapped her in a hug and comforted her.

"It's alright Haku-chan. I'll support you no matter what you decide to do. Just realize that I would be overjoyed if you would return to the village." Mei said as she rubbed Haku's back like she used to.

Haku relaxed slightly, though she was not at all sure what she was going to do.

**(Unknown location)**

Gihen walked up to his other two partners. He looked at the two as they were once again bickering. One of them was the man that had gotten information from the young genin team about the leaf shinobi. He was an unremarkable man with short black hair and brown eyes he had a small beard but was otherwise average. He had one of "those" faces which made him very good at infiltration. His name was Noi and the weakest among them, though he was still a jonin.

The man he was yelling at was a tall man with dark blue hair and shocking red eyes. His name was Kano and he was the most powerful of the three of them. He had been one of Yagura's main advisors and the man desperately wanted to Mist to return to its previous glory.

"It was foolish to release killing intent towards those ninja. What if they had spotted you?" Kano shouted at Noi.

"They didn't and I was able to at least get some information on them. It's obvious that while they may be chunin in rank, they're much stronger than that in actual skill." Noi responded.

"Fine, just don't let it happen again. What did you find out from the genin." Kano muttered in annoyance.

"One of them obviously uses bugs so he's most likely an Aburame. The girl is a hyuga if her eyes are anything to go by. The blonde doesn't seem to be anything special, though there's something strange about him. Finally, the other girl seems to be somewhat skilled in our methods as she was easily able to track the team through the mist." Noi said as he began to tell everything that he had found out.

"Gihen, what do you have to report?" Kano asked.

"Yukio will fight with us." Gihen said softly.

"Excellent. Having him on our side will help our chances greatly. What about the others?" Kano asked with a smile.

"I have a few more that will join, but most have been swayed by the Mizukage's words and actions and refuse to even think about dissention." Gihen answered.

"That is unfortunate. While the ones that we have on our side will be good for a distraction, we still don't have enough power to defeat Mei, her advisors and the leaf team. We need something more." Kano said to himself.

Suddenly, all three of them fell to their knees as a great chakra came over them. They began sweating and looked up to see a figure walking through the mist towards them.

"W-who are you?" Noi asked.

"I see that this small amount of time that we've been apart hasn't improved your skill." The figure said as he removed his cloak. The three men turned their gazes to the ground as the chakra receded.

"Yagura-sama, it is good seeing you again." Kano said in a submissive tone.

The former Mizukage looked over his followers. Yagura had a boyish look and unkempt gray hair. He had purple eyes and a visible scar that ran from under his left eye down to his chin. He wore a grey undershirt with fishnet sleeves. He also had a large green scarf around his shoulders and a large staff with two hooks on each end.

"I believe that it is time that I retook my throne and teach those traitors what it means to defy me." Yagura said softly as he stared off into the mist, just barely able to make out the tops of the buildings in the village.

"Here is what we're going to do." Yagura said as he looked at his three subordinates.

What none of the three could see was a dark figure in the distance sitting in a tree as he gazed down at Yagura.

'That's right my puppet. You will be a perfect subject to test the strength of the Kyuubi container.' The dark figure thought with a short chuckle as he simply vanished.

**(Mist jail)**

Yukio smiled softly as he heard a commotion begin to take place outside his cell. The plan to release him was simple enough. It involved starting a riot and allowing a few inmates to escape. He would sneak out during the confusion. It was a bit simple, but it was normally the simplest things that were the most effective.

Yukio looked up as his prison door was blown in. He saw Gihen walk in, as the anbu that used to be guarding the door were on the floor. Whether dead or unconscious, Yukio didn't know.

"It seems that even anbu can relax their guard after they get used to your presence." Gihen remarked offhandedly. He walked up to the bound prisoner and began to release his bonds.

Yukio fell to the ground with a groan as circulation finally returned to his limbs. He flexed his body and felt his chakra slowly return to him. He looked at Gihen as the man pulled out a nodachi. The long Japanese blade was pitch black in color from its handle to the blade itself.

Yukio's eyes brightened dangerously as he grabbed his blade. It had been far too long since it had been bathed in blood and he knew the perfect target to start with.

"Calm down. It's not yet time for us to mobilize. However I did think you would like to know that one of the Konoha shinobi is very close to the Mizukage. It's uncertain what their relationship is, but the young girl has been seen spending a lot of time with our beloved kage and it's obvious that they care deeply for one another." Gihen said in his normal tone as he turned to leave.

'Is that so? Well it looks like that my first target has changed. I'll destroy your spirit before I destroy your body Mei. Though I do wonder, what does this young woman look like?' Yukio thought darkly as his mind began to go through several vile scenarios on what he could do to Haku that would also hurt Mei.

Gihen didn't turn around as he heard Yukio's dark and slightly demented laughter. He was busy observing the various inmates that had been released and were currently freeing more of their comrades and attacking the guards.

'Yes this will do nicely. The Mizukage's attention will be diverted for a time and that is all the time we need to finish our plan. Yagura-sama is wise indeed, especially with the few changes to our plan that he ordered.' He thought as he called for Yukio and together they snuck away in the shadows as Mist reinforcements came to try and quell the uprising.

**(Mei's Home)**

Mei awoke to an urgent knock on her door. She opened and was confronted by Ao.

"Mizukage-sama, there has been a jail break. Currently, scores of inmates are escaping their cells and have taken the staff captive. They had demanded that they speak with you or they will kill the staff." Ao said in a calm tone that Mei could tell was forced.

"Very well." Mei said as she put on her cloths and turned to the still kneeling anbu.

"Also, get the leaf team for me. I would like them to see how this plays out." Mei said as she walked past Ao.

"Ma'am?" Ao asked in confusion. He didn't believe that foreigners had any business seeing such an act.

"This will help with the treaty as they will see that we truly aren't as blood thirsty as we used to be." Mei said simply as she took off towards the jailhouse.

Ao shook his head as he went to the hotel that the leaf shinobi were staying at. It was not what he would have done but then again, he wasn't the Mizukage. He was actually a little weary of the konoha shinobi as he feared that Mei's affection for the brown haired chunin would cloud her mind from any deceptions the leaf may have had. In fact, how were they to know that the leaf ninja didn't have something to do with this incident?

Ao kept this in mind as he came upon the hotel.

**(Team eight)**

Haku answered the door and was surprised to see Ao standing before her. Haku had got the distinct feeling that the hunter ninja was not very pleased with how close she was to Mei. However, he was still polite when he delivered Mei's request for them to be present.

Haku turned to her quickly dressed teammates and told them what had been requested of them.

"I wonder why she wants us to come." Naruto said as she scratched his head.

"Perhaps to show the villagers who have undoubtedly heard about this incident that we can work together?" Hinata said in a thoughtful tone. Shino remained quiet though Haku could tell that he had other ideas on his mind.

Shino had not been terribly pleased with how much time Haku had been spending away from them. He seemed overly suspicious of Mei but was wise enough not to speak this out loud. However, Haku could sense that he was a bit distrustful of her mother figure and that certainly wouldn't change when Haku got around to telling him about Mei's proposal that she remain in the Mist village. Haku still hadn't decided what she truly wanted and it was causing her to stress a bit.

Shino seemed to sense this and could tell that it was tied to Mei. This in turn made him even more suspicious of the Mist village.

"Well, let's go and see what's up." Naruto said as he grabbed his sword and instantly felt a rush of caution. Hinata looked over to him quickly, signaling that she too had felt something from her daggers.

"What is it?" Shino asked as Haku looked to them as well. As Naruto and Hinata become more attuned to their special powers, Shino and Haku had to rely on second hand knowledge with what they felt.

"Not sure, but something big is going to happen soon." Naruto said in a low tone. Hinata nodded as well.

"We'll worry about it later. Kaa-san wants us to be there as soon as we can." Haku said, and though she wasn't looking at him, she could feel a flash of irritation from Shino with how enthusiastic she was to meet the Mizukage.

The Aburame heir kept his mouth shut however and the team quickly exited to room to meet up with Mei.

**(Outside jail house)**

Team eight knew something was wrong the moment they met up with Mei and her squad of Mist ninja. There was a heavy silence among them and the few civilians that were crowded around were giving the leaf ninja intense looks.

'Well isn't this a cheery party.' Naruto thought.

'**It seems that they have something on their minds.**' Kyuubi supplied, much to Naruto's annoyance.

'You don't have to state the obvious.' Naruto thought to the fox.

'**Oh? I was under the impression that you needed everything spelled out for you.**' The demon said with a chuckle at the rush of anger that his container felt.

Naruto ignored the fox. While he and Kyuubi may have shared a mutual respect for one another, that didn't stop the fox from being a pain in the rear now that he was aware that he could read Naruto's thoughts and communicate with him freely.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a murmuring among the crowd as they began to stare hard at Haku, Hinata, and Shino.

"Silence!" Mei shouted as she walked in front of the leaf shinobi.

"Is there a problem, Mizukage-sama?" Hinata asked politely.

"The inmates have taken over the jail and they have only issued one demand." Mei said with a dark look on her face.

"And that would be?" Naruto asked as the bad feeling he was getting tripled in intensity.

"That I send one of the kekkei genkai wielding leaf shinobi to them in exchange for the hostages." Mei said grimly.

'Sometimes I hate being right.' Naruto thought as he saw the crowd of shinobi and civilians look at the leaf shinobi with expressions that were less than comforting.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 2. I'm very sorry for the lack of action but I assure you that the next chapter will be full of battles, as the conspirators and their allies move against Mei. **

**Who will be sent inside the prison? How will Yagura's and Yukio's presence change the tide of the upcoming battle? What will Haku's decision be?**

**That is a secret! Till next time Kyuubi123, out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**(Mist jail)**

"They want what?" Naruto muttered lowly as he stared at Mei, ignoring the crowd slowly closing in on them.

"They demand that one of you be exchanged for the captives." Mei reiterated as she glared at the crowd. Seeing her glare, the civilians halted though they were still staring at the leaf shinobi with less than favorable expressions. It was obvious that they considered it a fair trade and a few of them were somehow blaming the konoha ninja for the current predicament. The Mist shinobi present were difficult to read but it was apparent that they were thinking the same.

"That's not going to happen." Naruto said as he glared back at the crowd. Most were prepared to dispute this until they felt Naruto's killing intent grow and his eyes slowly began to turn red. They hadn't experienced a feeling like that since Yagura had left.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly yet firmly.

Naruto turned to her, and seeing her expression, quickly brought himself back under control. Hinata was the best at calmly him down and this had helped greatly during a few missions. Naruto was normally better at keeping his cool, but whenever someone or something threatened those he cared about, he developed a very short fuse.

"We must do something. They have already threatened to kill a captive for every minute that we do not comply." Haku said with concern.

"I will go." Shino said simply.

"No you're not!" Naruto said as he stared at Shino.

"Hokage-sama put me in charge of this mission Naruto." Shino responded calmly as he turned to look at his team mate. It was apparent that Shino was pulling rank. However, this mattered little to Naruto.

"It's far too risky Shino-kun. The most reasonable choice should be me." Haku said as she broke up the heated staring contest between Naruto and Shino.

"You are not going up there Haku-chan!" Mei interrupted quite loudly. She was not going to allow her daughter to be placed in such a situation.

"Kaa-san, you must think about this objectively. They must know by now that Shino-kun can use insects and it is not hard to recognize Hinata as a Hyuga. I am the only one whose kekkei genkai is still a mystery." Haku said to both Mei and Shino, whom was all but ready to outright refuse her suggestion. However, Haku knew that this was an incredibly delicate situation, which was why she had made the suggestion in the first place.

The crowd had backed off and was simply observing the event. Haku knew that Mei could not seem to favor the leaf ninja over the Mist's own citizens. It would have sent a very bad message to the people as a kage had to put nothing ahead of the village and those that lived there. By sending her in, Mei would save face with the village and show them that she favored nothing over them, even the girl that was like a daughter to her. Also, she was the best suited to come out of the predicament okay.

Naruto was not a good hostage as he would immediately attempt to subdue the attackers. While he was the most powerful out of all of them and it wouldn't be that difficult, Naruto was not very good at stealth and there was a chance that the captives could be killed in the scuffle.

Hinata's eyes instantly gave her away as a Hyuga. While it was unlikely, it was still possible that they had some idea how to counter her dojutsu and having Hinata as a captive would set Naruto off immediately and they couldn't take that chance.

Shino would have been a good candidate. However, it wouldn't be that difficult to identify him as an Aburame once his insects began to move about. Also, Shino was the leader of this mission and it was imperative that he remain free in case something was to go wrong.

"Isn't there any other way?" Hinata asked, feeling just a bit helpless.

"I will be alright. I doubt they will give up all of the hostages anyway. Thus, I will find out where they are holding them and attempt to free them, once that happens, then the rest of you can come in and clean up the trash." Haku said as she gave them all a smile of reassurance.

"You had better come back Haku-chan. I have no qualms about leveling the whole jail should anything happen to you." Mei said lowly as she prepared herself to send her daughter into the lion's den. That jail held the worst of the worst of the Mist village's criminals.

"Have you come to a decision?" One of the inmates shouted down to Mei.

"I have. I will send one of the leaf shinobi to you, but you must release the captives first." Mei commanded.

"I don't think so! We're holding all of the cards. Send the leaf ninja first and then we will release them." He shouted back.

"Very well." Mei said and she seethed in anger. She nodded to Haku, concern for her well being practically flowing off of her.

Haku nodded to her teammates and removed her ninja equipment. They would let her in with it and she would rather have Shino keep it. Shino grabbed her hand for a moment and looked into her eyes. She could feel his fear and concern and gave him a small smile.

Haku walked forward towards the gates of the cell where the inmates were holding the captives. One inmate walked out and immediately slapped chakra draining cuffs to Haku's hands. He roughly led her back to the entrance, all the while smirking at her with a look that was not comforting to Haku in the least.

"They sent us a cute one." He said to his fellow inmates as he pulled Haku with him.

"You have me, now release the hostages." Haku said as she stared at the large crowd of Mist criminals that were watching the ordeal.

"That isn't my decision girl. You'll have to talk to the boss about that." The man said as he dragged her through the large crowd of jeering men.

It had been a long time since they had seen a woman and Haku was all too aware of what was most likely going through their minds. She hadn't taken into account the possibility that they would bind her in chakra draining cuffs and she was currently unable to cast even the most basic jutsu. Needless to say, she was not feeling very comfortable with her decision.

Haku was taken to the central office in the prison and saw a man sitting in the chair of the prison warden. Haku didn't have to wonder what happened to the warden as she saw his mutilated body in the far corner of the room. She winced at what must have happened to the man but kept her composure.

Noi looked at the young woman that was brought before him. His job in Yagura's plan was simple. He was to oversee the revolt and tie up as many Mist shinobi as possible. Meanwhile, his comrades would finalize their objectives and prepare to overthrow Mei.

Noi had to admit that he was enjoying the power that he currently held among the inmates. Kano was always bossing him around and he couldn't stand the man. It felt good to be in charge for once. Yagura had given him complete freedom to what he felt was necessary as long as he kept the Mist's attention on him and not the others.

"So you are one of the cursed children." Noi stated as he leaned back in his chair and stared at Haku.

"What you call a curse I call a gift." Haku replied back as she met his gaze and refused to look away.

"A difference of opinion I suppose. Still, that doesn't change the fact that you are somehow important to the Mizukage. I wonder what she would do if something were to happen to you?" Noi stated calmly with a grin. He was a bit disappointed when Haku failed to waver. It seems that she was more powerful than he first thought, interesting.

"You must know that you can't win. You are surrounded on all sides and the only thing keeping you safe is your hostages. I doubt that you've released all of them and are probably holding a few more hidden somewhere for added leverage. However, once it is clear that you won't cooperate, then Mizukage-sama will send in her troops to either kill or detain you all once again." Haku said confidently as she saw Noi's face darken. He hadn't meant for her to figure out his little rouse about the few extra hostages that he held.

"You're very clever but I doubt she'll be doing that. After all, she wouldn't want anything to happen to her beloved daughter would she?" Noi asked innocently and gave a crooked smile when he saw Haku flinch for the first time.

"Oh we heard what you called our esteemed Mizukage out there. I find it very interesting that you call her your mother and yet you look nothing alike. I'm sure that there is a story, but I'm afraid that I have to tell your beloved mother that the deal has changed." Noi said as she ordered his men to place her with the other captives. He also told them not to touch her, as he was saving that pleasure for himself.

Haku stayed silent as she was lead through the prison to the holding cell where she found the remaining few captives. The men roughly pushed her in and locked the door behind her, all the while making lewd comments about what they were going to do with her later. Haku ignored them as she looked at the captives and saw that they were frightened.

"Don't worry. I'm here to rescue you." Haku said softly. She could see their confusion and gave a small smile as she prepared for the next step of the plan.

**(Team eight)**

"How dare they!" Mei seethed when she realized that not all of the captives had been released, and to make things worse, Noi had the gall to add demands for the return of the remaining prisoners and Haku as well.

"I will personally go and rip them apart." Mei continued as both Ao and team eight retreated to discuss their options.

"That's exactly what they want you to do Mei-sama. To act impulsively will reflect badly on you. Most of our shinobi are watching this, as are our villagers. We must be careful to show no weakness." Ao advised softly.

"They have my daughter Ao. Just how do you expect me to act calmly?" Mei retorted.

"Haku is ready to move."

Everyone turned to Shino at this statement. The Aburame had refrained from speaking from the moment that Haku had entered the prison and his team mates had simply assumed.

"What are you talking about?" Mei asked him, her eyes narrowing. She was unsure of how to feel about Shino.

She had easily seen how infatuated Haku was with the boy and she wasn't sure that she approved. She didn't know much about the boy, but being an Aburame, she assumed that he was like the rest of his clan, very unemotional. She wanted the best for her daughter and believed that she deserved a man that would be there for her emotionally as well as physically. That Shino's hadn't seemed to be that upset with Haku going into the prison only reinforced her opinion about his lack of emotional strength.

"Haku is with the remaining civilians and has a rough estimate of how strong the enemy's force is." Shino said simply as he gazed at Mei. He could already tell that she didn't care for him that much, however, he was used to this from others so it really didn't bother him that much. Though, the fact that Haku saw her as a mother did complicate things.

"How do you know this?" Ao asked suspiciously.

"Shino always keeps a few of his special insects on those he cares about. Their primary use is to alert him if one of us is in trouble. However, it goes deeper for Haku right Shino?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"The insect that Haku keeps with her is finely attuned to her emotions and thoughts. It can relay brief messages between us." Shino said, affirming Naruto's statement.

"That's a very useful technique." Mei said, though she was still looking at Shino suspiciously.

"We saw them place chakra draining cuffs on her. She is still defenseless." Ao commented.

"My daughter is far from helpless Ao." Mei said as she glared at him. He bowed his head in apology.

"Still, she'll need back up." Hinata said softly as she observed the jail.

"You got a plan Shino?" Naruto asked as he looked to his friend.

"Indeed." Shino said softly as he told them what he had in mind.

**(Mei's office)**

'Amazing how few guards are around.' Gihen thought as he walked around Mei's office. Most of the anbu guards were with the Mizukage at the jail. He had only to get by a one or two anbu. He shook his head at Mei's handling of the situation. Yagura would have most likely sent in his most elite anbu and told them to forcibly restore order giving no mind to the hostages that were killed. That was the right way to do things, in Gihen's mind.

Still, he was sent on a mission to complete. Yagura and Yukio were prepared to do their roles and Kano was also in position. Their plan was to separate Mei away from her loyal followers and kill her. They were also going to attempt to capture the konoha shinobi for ransom or if that didn't work, kill them as well. It called for a bit of a distraction to acquire their attention, which had been accomplished with the riot. Next was to bring Mei's attention back to her office.

Gihen reached into his pouch and pulled out numerous explosive tags. It was time to get to work on stage two of their plan.

**(Jail)**

"Byakugan!" Hinata said as she activated her dojutsu and looked into the prison. She was able to see a multitude of chakra signatures but she was looking for one in particular. Over the years, she had discovered that she had talent as a sensor ninja. Thus, she was able to not only see chakra with her byakugan, but she was able to feel it and distinguish one from another if she was familiar with the person whose chakra she was feeling.

"I've found her. There are quite a few guards around her and the other prisoners." Hinata said softly to the ninja around her.

"Good. Now that we know where she is, we can save her." Mei said as she prepared to order her anbu to move.

"Wait please. It would be detrimental to attack head on. That is what they expect. We should instead attempt to sneak in with a small strike force, and free the captives. Then we can attack." Shino said to Mei.

Mei looked as if she was going to refuse but was stopped when they heard an explosion from the center of the village.

"What was that?" Naruto asked in confusion and alarm.

"Mei-sama, your office is on fire!" Ao said in shock.

Hinata looked at Ao with a narrowed gaze. She was about to report the same thing as her byakugan allowed her to see where the explosion took place. How had Ao been able to see it as well? Hinata looked at the eye patch on Ao's eyes with a contemplative stare.

"Just what we need." Mei muttered in anger as she looked torn on what to do. She had to go and check to see what had happened, however, she still wanted to stay and help her daughter.

"I will stay and help Haku-chan." Shino said, sensing Mei's conflicted thoughts.

"Can I trust you to bring her back to me?" Mei asked her green eyes boring into Shino's very soul.

"Yes." Shino said simply as he actually removed his glasses and allowed Mei to gaze into his eyes. She stared at him for a moment before nodding and ordering Chojuro to stay and organize the forces while she, Ao, Naruto and Hinata went to see what had caused the explosion. Shino looked at Chojuro and saw that the shy swordsman was looking at him in anticipation.

"So what did you have in mind?" He asked softly.

Mei arrived at her burning office in time to see a figure leap away from the room with a number of scrolls in his hands.

"No!" Mei shouted in anger as the figure disappeared in the mist naturally settling over the village.

"Who was that?" Naruto asked as they caught up to the mist leader.

"Ao!" Mei shouted, ignoring Naruto.

Ao nodded and performed a water jutsu to put out the flames engulfing the office. Mei began to frantically search through the debris. After a few moments she stood to her feet, giving off waves of killing intent.

"They're gone!" Mei seethed.

"What are gone?" Hinata asked kindly as she and Naruto looked on.

"Some very important scrolls that if in the wrong hands could spell trouble for our village." Mei said shortly, keeping most of the information to herself.

"Any idea who took them?" Naruto asked.

"No, but I intend to find out. The figure that just escaped must have left a trail. Ao I want you to try and find him." Mei ordered her head anbu caption.

"I would like to accompany him. My byakugan will be a big help." Hinata offered. Mei nodded and Ao and Hinata jumped away from the office to go after the fleeing criminal.

"Shouldn't you send back up, just in case?" Naruto asked as he was left with the Mizukage.

"All of our forces are either on a mission or at the jail in case some inmates try to escape. Other than the few ninja acting as sentries around the gate, I have no one else to send. Ao will be able to handle it though. No ordinary thief will escape him." Mei responded as she began to reorganize her office.

"I have a feeling that this is all anything but a coincidence." Naruto muttered to himself as he watched Mei freeze as she picked up a scroll.

"What is it?" Naruto asked. As he watched Mei open the scroll and read the contents.

"I believe that you're right about these events not being a coincidence. I know who was behind it." Mei said softly. If Naruto didn't know better, he was say that she was slightly worried.

"Who is it?" Naruto asked as he walked over to her.

"Don't worry about that. This is a Mist issue and I will handle it myself. Stay here in case someone comes looking for me" Mei said as she jumped out of the broken window towards the gate, giving Naruto no time to argue her orders.

**(Jail)**

"Are you ready?" Shino asked the shy swordsman.

"I will do my part." Chojuro answered as he began to walk forward. Chojuro walked up to the gates of the jail and began to demand to speak with whoever was in charge. He wanted to know why all of the hostages weren't released and what else they wanted.

While this was going on, Shino moved to a location specified by Hinata as having the smallest amount of security in terms of inmates watching for approaching shinobi. This didn't mean that there weren't many look outs watching for such a maneuver. However, they were not used to the tactics that an Aburame could utilize.

The two guards watching this specific area where observing the mist for any approaching enemies. They never saw the tiny insects that flew onto their necks and bit them. Both slapped their necks at the sudden sting and turned to one another about to ask if they had experienced the same sensation. However, they were shocked to find that no sound was coming out of their mouths. Shino appeared in front of them in a blur and engulfed them both in his chakra eating insects. Both men were unable to even scream and silently fell to the ground.

Shino grabbed the two men and pulled them into a dark corner as he created two bug clones to look like the unconscious men. He was happy that he had trained with his father to added extra colonies of insects to his existing hive. The two tiny attackers that had rendered the escapees mute were a part of a smaller colony that was known for their paralyzing venom. A single bite was enough to numb any area of the body.

With those two guards taken care of, Shino closed his eyes and concentrated on finding Haku. The jail was filled with deadly inmates but he had yet to be discovered, which meant that he had the element of surprise on his side and that he could still find and secure the remaining hostages before giving Chojuro the signal to attack with the Mist forces under his command.

Shino found Haku's position and began to silently move in her direction, all the while, he was allowing his tiny servants to exit his body and look for prey.

**(Jail cell)**

Haku waited in the corner of the cell for Shino. She had felt his presence once the insect she kept with her began to buzz frantically. She had once again assured her cell mates that help was coming, though they were less than convinced. She could tell that they were slightly apprehensive towards her.

'Shino-kun.' Haku thought with a smile as the guards stepped aside allowing Noi to enter the cell. He leered at the captive ice user and strode towards her.

"It seems you beloved mother had something more pressing to attend to rather than negotiate your release. I do wonder what we can do to pass the time until she returns." He said with a perverted grin.

Haku simply stared back at him without emotion. She had faced death many times and was far from intimidated by Noi. As he walked towards her, she proved that underestimating any opponent was a bad idea. Although she couldn't use her chakra and her hands were bound, that left her legs free to deliver a swift knee to the groin. Noi cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. Haku began to kick the overconfident jonin before he could rise to his feet.

"Keep your hands to yourself. I'm already spoken for." Haku said as the guards came in and roughly restrained her from kicking their leader.

Noi slowly rose to his feet and whipped the blood from his bleeding lip and nose. He snarled at Haku as he backhanded her.

"I will take great pleasure in making you scream girl! You think that you're going to be rescued? There is no escape for you. Even fact why don't I make your mission a failure right now?" He said darkly as he turned swiftly and pulled out a kunai to slit the throat of the captive closest to him. He watched as Haku's eyes widened in horror and her hair covered her face as she put her head down.

However, he was a bit surprised to hear a soft chuckle come from Haku. She lifted her head and Noi felt a chill go down his spine.

"I'm going to kill you myself." Haku said softly, her brown eyes as cold as ice.

"And just how do you plan on doing that when you can't even save yourself?" Noi asked as he tried to hide the rush of fear that went through his body. He turned swiftly and told the guards to teach her a lesson while he went to deal with Chojuro, who was still demanding an explanation about the remaining captives. As Noi left the cell the two guards threw Haku into the wall and advanced on her with menacing looks.

"Anything left to say girl?" One of the guards asked the downed shinobi.

"I don't talk to dead men." Haku said with a grin as the two guards looked down in surprise at the two long, black stingers sticking through their chest.

"**Aburame style: Stinging death**." Shino muttered as he retracted the poison covered appendages back into his sleeves. The two mist captives were shocked by Shino's suddenly arrival. They hadn't seen him arrive and the swift and silent attack had taken them by surprise. They were dead before they hit the ground.

"It took you long enough Shino-kun." Haku said with a grin as Shino took the keys from the dead guards and unlocked her and the captives' shackles. Haku felt her chakra return to its normal levels as Shino returned her weapons pouch and other items that she had removed before allowing them to capture her.

"It was a delicate situation. A larger force would have been discovered and you would have all been in danger. It took a lot of convincing for them to allow me to come alone. We need to leave now before we are discovered." Shino said as he walked to the cell door and checked for anyone who might have heard them.

"I can't leave yet. I have a promise to fulfill." Haku said with a heated look.

"Now is not the time for revenge Haku-chan." Shino said disapprovingly.

"Someone has to lead the assault and the best way to kill a snake is to cut its head off. You take the prisoners and sound the attack." Haku said, giving him a look that told him that she was not going to be moved.

Shino, knowing Haku as well as he did, sighed as he told her to be careful and ushered the captives to move swiftly. He closed his eyes and sent a mental command to the insect that he had left with Chojuro, signaling the commencement of the attack. Haku nodded to Shino as she ran through the prison and distracted the guards while Shino lead the captives away.

Haku struck with deadly precision as she moved through the prison like an angel of death. She had one target in mind and she didn't care who she had to go through. She took many of the attackers by surprise and with swift and brutal accuracy, took them down with shuriken, senbon, or kunai. However, this was not to last as the deeper she got into the prison the stronger opposition she ran across. She turned into an empty cell as the three attackers she had come across threw explosive notes in her path.

After the flames had died down, she moved quickly through the smoke and struck. She kicked the first attacker in the head before they could react. Momentarily stunned, he was unable to help his allies as she turned her attention to them. The other two proved to be more of a challenge as they worked together, attacking and defending together. Haku was slowly being driven back by their coordinated attack into the first guard who was recovering.

'Guess I can't hold back anymore.' Haku thought as the temperature began to plummet. The three guards didn't notice until ice began to build up on the walls and they noticed their movements beginning to turn sluggish. Cold never bothered Haku, so while they began to slow down, she only sped up.

Haku duck under the punch of the first man and swept his legs out from under him. She immediately back flipped to avoid the lick from the second guard. While in the air she threw three senbon. One stuck the first guard in the neck, downing him for good. The remaining two struck the second guard in his knee caps, causing him to fall in pain. She ended his pain with a senbon through the eye. The last guard backed up a bit at seeing her brutally efficient killing of his comrades.

"Tell me where your boss is and I may allow you to live." Haku said sternly.

"You don't have long before the others make it here." He replied back nervously.

"True, but you won't be alive by the time they arrive." Haku said as she pulled out a pair of senbon.

"Fine! He's in the central office!" He said as he moved back.

"Thank you." Haku said as she jumped past the man and continued on. The man sighed in relief before he felt something strike him in the back of the head. He fell, dead before he hit the ground. A kuani was sticking out the back of his skull.

'I never said just how long I was willing to allow you to live now did I?' She thought darkly as she continued on through the jail. She now relied mainly on stealth to evade the majority of the prisoners. She simply didn't have the time or the chakra to fight them all.

She smiled when she felt a tremble run through the jail. It seemed that the Mist forces were now mounting their offensive. That would make her task much easier as she heard the prisoners running to combat the advancing Mist ninja. Haku continued on towards the main office with little effort. There were a few prisoners standing guard at the door. They weren't standing for much longer.

Noi looked up when his door was blown off the hinges. An eerie fog began to flow into the room and a voice as cold as ice came to his ears.

"I told you that you would die by my hand. I always keep my promises." Haku's voice stated from the mist.

"Come then girl. Don't think that I am as weak as those you have fought before." Noi stated as he allowed the mist to completely fill the room, obscuring his vision.

Noi was a jonin, and he was going to take pleasure in killing this girl before escaping. His job was never to completely hold the prison, but to turn the Mizukage's attention to him while Yagura-sama and the other completed the next stage of the plan. While the jail was going to be retaken faster than anticipated, his job was done.

He pulled out a kunai and quickly blocked the three senbon that were heading towards his head. He rolled forward and avoided Haku's follow up blow from behind. He turned and threw his kunai. Haku ducked and was a bit surprised to see Noi disappear into the mist as she had done before.

"Don't underestimate me girl. I am one of the strongest ninja in this jail." Noi's voice called out.

Haku closed her eyes and remembered Zabuza's training. She ducked when she felt an attack coming from her right. She barley dodged a whip of water that had condensed from the mist she had created.

"You are very agile. However, running away will not be enough to save you." Noi said as he appeared in front of her. He kicked her in the side and sent her flying over his desk. He immediately pulled the moisture from the mist to form twin whips of water and proceeded to allow them to smash into the desk, hoping to finish her.

Haku jumped away and threw her senbon. The whips of water rose and batted the needles from the air and wrapped around Haku's leg. Haku quickly froze the whip of water and shattered it. Noi was quite surprised.

"Ice? There hasn't been an account of an ice user since the end of the purges. How did you escape death?" Noi wondered.

"I escaped from the bigotry and hatred that consumed this village for so long and I refuse to allow you who cannot see past your own hatred to return this village back to the way that it was!" Haku shouted as her chakra began to spike and the temperature began to lower swiftly.

"Don't think I fear you girl." Noi spat in anger at being talked down to by Haku.

Haku didn't respond as the mist around Noi began to swirl and harden into multiple ice needles. Noi's eyes widened as the needles perforated his body. He fell to the ground lifeless before he vanished, replaced by a now shredded chair.

'A substitution.' Haku thought in irritation.

"You will have to do better to kill me." Noi said with a smirk from the mist.

"I don't have time for these games. I think it's time I stopped holding back." Haku said as she decided to put an end to these farce.

"**Frozen Tundra!**" Haku shouted after running through hand signs.

Noi didn't know what to expect but he was shocked when the mist covered room was covered in a thick layer of ice within moments. Noi wasn't fast enough to react in time and his right leg was frozen solid. He looked up and could only stare at the room. Ice covered every surface and standing in the middle of the arctic room was Haku. She walked calmly over to him with a slow deliberate pace.

Noi was noting going to give up easily and pulled out a smoke bomb. As he let it drop the room was covered in a shroud of smoke. Noi took out a kunai and began to chip away at the ice covering his leg. He had only moments before Haku was upon him. However, he had run out of time.

He noticed a firm feminine hand on his arm and could only stare in fear as ice began to run across his right arm, effectively trapping it. Haku, slowly, did the same to the rest of his body until only Noi's head was left uncovered by the thick layer of ice.

"Now, I have some questions for you." Haku said as she appeared out of the smoke.

"I'll tell you nothing!" Noi said angrily.

Haku smiled darkly as she pulled out a kunai. She may have been a naturally kind person but that only applied to those that she cared for. She could be as cold as the ice she controlled if given enough incentive. Noi had given her that and more.

"You won't? Well, that's too bad for you." Haku said with a cold smile as she got to work.

A few minutes later Shino opened the door just as Haku decapitated Noi with a sword that looked to be made out of ice. He had been a part of the invading forces and had made a bee-line towards Haku's location. He knew she could take care of herself, but he wanted to be there to fight by her side. He wasn't able to question Haku before she rushed to him.

"We have to move now!" Haku said in a panicked tone as she raced past Shino.

"What is the problem?" Shino asked as he quickly grabbed her arm.

"We have to get to Kaa-san. That worm told me how the most dangerous of the prisoners escaped and is going to attack her." Haku said as she literally pulled Shino along with her.

"Surly he isn't ignorant enough to believe he can assassinate the Mist's leader inside of the very village." Shino stated as she released her and began to run beside her. He had accepted that he wasn't going to be able to hold her and decided to simply keep up with his fast moving girlfriend.

"He's going to ambush her outside of the village. That's what this riot and that explosion earlier were about. This was all a plot to tie up the Mist's forces and get Kaa-san alone." Haku said as they rushed past the battling forces of the mist and the prisoners. They had to stop as they were attacked by a pair of inmates.

"And that man revealed all of this to you?" Shino asked in a bit of disbelief as he dodged the sloppy attacker form his assailant. He couldn't believe that a jonin, and one of the leaders of such a group would talk so easily. He was a bit surprised when a senbon shot through the eye of his assailant and turned to Haku. She was already standing over the dead body of her attacker and Shino saw the cold smile on her face.

"I can be very persuasive." Haku said in a voice that matched her smile.

'It would be prudent to never upset her.' Shino thought to himself as they continued on. Shino looked around at the fighting and could see that while the Mist shinobi were gaining ground, they were sure to loss more forces than they really could afford.

"Haku-chan go on ahead. I will remain and take care of things here." Shino said.

"Are you sure?" She asked as she saw Chojuro come up to her. She quickly explained what was happening and the shy boy actually went a bit pale with fright.

"He must have been talking about Yukio. He was the most powerful of Yagura's generals and a member of the seven swordsmen of the mist. It was Mei-sama herself that actually defeated him and it was a close fight at that." Chojuro said in a stammer.

"All the more reason for the two of you to go ahead. I am the best suited to handle things here with the smallest amount of casualties. I will catch up soon." Shino said as Haku and Chojuro nodded and leapt away.

"You hear that boys? It looks like the leaf abomination is going to handle us by himself. Tell you what, after we kill you we'll go find your little girlfriend and show her a good time with a real man!" Said one of the prisoners. The fighting began to slow to a halt when a loud buzzing sound began to emit from Shino.

Shino was not someone who was easily angered. Given his fine control over his emotions, it was actually quite difficult to get any sort of response from him. However, the prisoner's words brought back terribly dark feelings that had lain dormant in Shino ever since that fateful mission that had gone horrifically wrong. Shino had clung to Haku for emotional support after the mission and had come to rely on her in a way that was almost beyond words. This, in effect, made Shino much more protective of Haku than ever before and event he thought of her being taken away from him was enough to set his insects into a frenzy.

"Let me show you what an abomination can do." Shino said in a tone that froze the hearts of all who heard him.

**(Outside Mist gates)**

Hinata and Ao stopped as they stood on the gates of the village. Hinata was still confused as to the reason why Ao could continue to follow the trail of the traitor, even though she was having difficulty with her byakugan. It didn't add up. There was more to this man.

"Where do you think he is going?" Hinata asked Ao as the man closed his eyes and thought.

"I believe that he is a distraction meant to separate one or the both of us from our comrades." Ao said softly with a hint of something in his eye.

"What is it?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Nothing, let's continue on. Mei-sama and the others will be fine until we return. It's vital that we find this person and retake the important documents stolen from Mizukage-sama's office." Ao said as he jumped off the gate and continued on into the mist, Hinata was right by his side.

They continued on until Ao stopped suddenly and Hinata jumped swiftly. They had both narrowly evaded a small trip wire. Ao tripped it and jumped back as a shower of shuriken sprang from the surrounding area to harmlessly impact the ground.

"He's trying to catch us unawares." Ao said softly.

"He doesn't seem interested in actually escaping either. He wants us out of the way." Hinata said as she used her byakugan to search the surrounding area. She couldn't see their attacker but that didn't mean much. Her range with the byakugan had expanded over the past three years. However, the longer range made the definition of her what she was seeing become less focused. Thus, while expanding her byakuagn to its fullest extent, she was only able to make out a chakra signature which could be suppressed if the ninja was skilled enough.

"I believe he is here." Hinata said as she watched Ao studying the trap that had been set.

'Something isn't right. This trap looks as if it was rushed when being set, yet our target ran in this specific direction. I have a feeling that we're walking into an even bigger trap." He thought sourly as they continued on at a much slower pace.

They discovered several more traps along the way and quickly dealt with them. It was becoming a bit tedious and Hinata was becoming complacent.

"I wish he would come out and fight. These traps will never be enough to even injure one of us." Hinata said as she diffused an explosive note that had been set for them.

Ao didn't respond as something was feeling eerily familiar about this. His feelings were justified when he felt a presence behind him. He turned but saw no one. Hinata turned to look over her shoulder at the Mist anbu and stepped into a sink pit. The bottom was covered in deadly spikes.

Hinata flipped and stuck her hand out. Showing an incredible amount of chakra control, she actually balanced herself on top of the nearest spike with just her index finger. The chakra was acting as a cushion and she pushed off to land on the other side of the pit. However, this seemed to be what their assailant had been waiting for as a series of traps began to spring to life. Two lines of ninja wire with explosive notes appeared between Ao and Hinata and the resulting explosion forced Hinata to perform the Kaiten to avoid damage.

As soon as Hinata ended her jutsu she began to dodge and evade a shower of senbon that attempted to skewer her. Hinata used her extreme flexibility to dodge every needle that came towards her. She was not so preoccupied to see that Ao was having problems of his own. She wasn't sure exactly what was happening but after the senbon stopped Hinata found herself alone in the Mist. Ao had disappeared.

Hinata had no time to think on this as a group of chakra signatures was heading her way. She took a defensive stance and a team of mist anbu appeared. Hinata relaxed as they approached her.

"Why are you outside of the village?" The leader of the four man squad asked.

"Ao-san and myself were chasing after a mysterious figure that bombed the Mizukage's office. I don't know the location of Ao-san at the moment as we were split up momentarily after a series of traps set by the escapee.

"Very well, let us search for them together." The Anbu said as he walked towards Hinata.

"Yes let's." She said as she turned her back and began to scan for Ao. She ducked swiftly to avoid the kunai thrust that was aimed at her spine. She swiftly turned and went into a defensive stance as the other three members of the fake anbu squad appeared at their leader's side.

"How annoying and to think I went through all that trouble to get these outfits." The leader said as he removed his mask to reveal his identity. Gihen looked at Hinata and felt a bit of respect for the girl. She had never let her guard down and was always prepared for danger to come from any direction. However, she was one with an abominable blood line limit, thus she had to be destroyed.

"You're byakugan is truly special indeed if you were able to see my attack coming from behind. However, that won't help you. These men around me are three ex anbu members who happen to be quite upset at Mei's current rule. They all actually made an impression with Yagura-sama with their ruthless slaughtering of those just like you." Gihen said calmly with a smile. It hadn't been easy to track down these three who had all fled the village once Mei took command. She would have executed them on the spot for the atrocities that they had willingly committed. Still, once they found out about an attempted rebellion, they quickly came back to offer their services in retaking the Mist.

"You are so sure of your victory? Then come and prove to me that you are able to fight a fully trained shinobi unlike the countless innocents that you killed before. I'm sure you'll find that this battle will be quite different." Hinata said as she fully accessed her divine chakra. Her marking glowed brightly and a white aura appeared around her. Her eyes became pure white and she pulled out her daggers. She would show them just how much of an error they had made in challenging her.

A few meters away, Ao jumped back as Kano attacked once again from the mist. Kano had led the mist anbu away once the explosion had taken place, thus he had no clue as to Hinata's current predicament.

"Can't you do any better than that? I'm disappointed that one such as you is now the top anbu captain of the Mist village. A position that was mine until that slut took it from me!" Kano said from the Mist.

"You were blinded by your power and status and were a tool for Yagura. That is why you lost your position and why I am now the head of our forces." Ao replied as he leapt into the trees and crossed kunai with Kano.

"And I am going to correct that grievous mistake shortly!" Kano said as he pulled out another senbon and threw it at Ao's eye. Ao shifted his head to the side as he kicked Kano away from him. Kano disappeared into the Mist and Ao gave a grunt of annoyance as he followed after the ex-anbu leader.

**(With Mei)**

Mei arrived by the coast and looked out at the large ocean that surrounded water country. The mist that surrounded the village was due to this very ocean. She looked around for her prey. She had come alone as this was the only way that she would be able to fight at her fullest. She couldn't afford to become distracted during this fight.

"So you really came alone."

Mei turned to look at Yukio. The green haired mist swordsmen still had that sick smile on his face. It never once left his face, not even when she had his beaten body hauled off to a mist jail cell. That battle had been long and difficult, and one of the major reasons that Mei was able to come out victorious was because she had been able to separate Yukio from his black nodachi. Its power was truly frightening.

"I've already defeated you once Yukio. Make things easy on yourself and give up." Mei said as she stared down the slightly deranged swordsman.

"And why would I do that? I'm fighting on the winning side. You don't think all that's been happening is simple coincidence do you? Don't be naive. It's all a part of my mater's plan to retake his proper place as leader of the Mist village. He even promised that I could have you and that pretty little daughter of yours once he retaken control." Yukio said as his jade eyes glinted dangerously with lust.

Mei was not shocked by his lecherous words. She was used to such talk from this man even before she fought him. As one of Yagura's chief shinobi she had been forced to work closely with all of the seven swordsmen of the mist. Yukio was the one she hated the most, save perhaps Kisame. Though she only despised the shark like swordsman for his betrayal of the village. She hated Yukio because he cared nothing for anyone other than himself. He willingly killed anyone that Yagura ordered to die, with glee. He was as bloodthirsty as Kisame and perhaps even a bit more deranged.

What shocked, and worried Mei was Yukio's talk about his master. Could it be that Yagura was behind all of this? If that was the case then things had gone from bad to worse.

"It's been awhile Mei-san."

Mei's blood chilled at the emotionless tone and she watched as Yagura appeared out of the ocean, his cold purple eyes staring into her very soul. Mei confidence took a severe dive at seeing the former Mizukage stand before her. Yagura had never really been defeated in battle. The reason he lost his position was because Mei's army had already captured or defeated most of his own and he had disappeared. One on one, Mei was confident that she could defeat Yukio. However, she was not sure that she could fight Yagura by herself and she certainly wasn't foolish enough to fight both of them at once.

"You seem to be at a loss for words by traitorous Mei-san." Yagura said as he walked on the ocean and stood beside the now kneeling Yukio.

"I never thought I would see you again Yagura. Don't you get it yet? The people are sick of your twisted and demented ways. It was time for change and I brought it about. All that has transpired will change nothing. Even if you do defeat me, the Mist will rise up and take you down once again." Mei said as she flared her chakra.

"People are sheep Mei, haven't you figured that out by now? They will blindly follow whoever takes control as long as they can live their lives. They will follow me once again because I will be in power. Also, this time I'll be sure to wipe out every last shinobi that fought with you. None shall be spared and with them gone, I will return the village to the way it always was and shall remain." Yaugra said as Yukio stood to his feet and pulled out his nodachi.

"Take her down Yukio. Then you can have her." Yagura said dismissively.

Mei's eyes narrowed in anger as Yukio came upon her, slashing with his long blade. Mei ducked swiftly and delivered a round house kick to the swordsman knocking him back violently. Yukio got to his feet and glared at the woman while Yagura's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Don't underestimate me. I was not given the position of Mizukage because I started the rebellion or because I retook the village from you. I am Mizukage, because there is no one in the entire village that can stand against me. Yukio, you shouldn't be so over confident. I have improved since the last time we fought." Mei said as she crossed her arms and gave them a smirk.

"Useless woman!" Yukio shouted as he he prepared to attack her again. However, Yagura stopped him with but a look.

"Don't get so easily riled up." Yagura stated as he pulled the double hooked staff from his back. Mei tensed as she felt Yagura's potent chakra beginning to rise.

He disappeared and Mei only had a moment to duck the deadly slash that would have taken her in the neck. She attempted to counter but found herself being steadily moved backwards by the relentless assault. Yukio suddenly made an appearance and Mei jumped over his slash only to be caught in the back by the hooked staff. She dissolved into water and the two rogue ninja turned to look for the woman.

"She can't be allowed to escape. Find her and stop her." Yagura said as he placed the staff on his back, and took off in one direction. Yukio ran off searching for Mei in the opposite direction.

A few feet away, Mei was silently moving through the Mist. She would need some help to defeat both of these men at the same time. Even if they caught her, she was confident in her ability to escape again. She stopped suddenly when she felt a presence behind her. She ducked as Yukio's jet black nodachi carved itself deeply in the tree beside Mei. She was confused as to how he had found her so quickly.

"Why are you running away? Don't' tell me you're scared of little old me!" He shouted in glee as he attacked her again.

"**Lava release: Lava Bullets!**" Mei shouted as she shot off several globes of burning hot magma. Yukio's eyes narrowed as she dodged the flaming projectiles as swiftly as possible. One grazed his arm and he leapt back with a cry of pain at the severe burn that had appeared on his arm despite the glancing blow.

"It seems time spent in your cell dulled your skills and your intelligence. I already know about your sword's ability and I will be sure that it comes nowhere near me." Mei said as she felt a powerful chakra signature coming towards them. It seemed that Yagura and heard their clash and was swiftly coming towards them. Not wanting to fight them both once again, Mei ran through more hand signs and prepared herself.

"**Boil release: Skilled Mist jutsu!**" Mei shouted as she took a deep breath and released a cloud of mist. The mist spread out and everything it touched began to dissolve. The mist was actually a highly corrosive acid that would eat through anything it came into contact with. Yukio was forced to retreat and outrun the acid cloud.

Mei smirked as she turned to run again. However, she was caught unawares when an arm of chakra came from the mist and grabbed her. She was slammed into a tree and splintered the bark. The arm didn't release her, however, and she was slammed into the ground before the chakra arm threw her into another thick trunk of wood. She fell to the ground in pain and shock. She looked up and saw Yagura calmly walking through the acidic mist with no detrimental effects. Around him was a cloak of dark chakra and a single tail was waving in the air.

"To think that a ninja in my most trusted circle would be the wielder of not one but two bloodline techniques. I must applaud your skills in deception. That no one ever suspected such a thing is truly astounding. It would be such a shame to kill you. Surrender and I will consider allowing you to once again serve under me." Yagura said as he neared the down Mist leader.

"I would rather die!" Mei shouted as she jumped to her feet with a grimace.

"Very well." He said as her technique ended and Yukio appeared at his side once again.

They suddenly jumped back when shards of ice rained down from the sky, separating the advancing shinobi from the injured Mist leader. Mei turned and was surprised to see Haku and Chojuro leaping through the trees towards them. They landed between her and the rouge duo.

"Haku-chan, Chojuro, what are you two doing here?" She asked softly, though she was overjoyed to see Haku alive and well.

"The jail is being retaken and their leader told me about what was happening." Haku said, as she slowly backed up to stand beside her mother. Chojuro stood in front of them as Haku checked over Mei's injuries and began to slowly heal them with her limited knowledge of medical jutsu.

"So Noi spilled the beans. Not very surprising considering he was the weakest of the group." Yukio stated as his eyes slowly traveled over Haku's body. She was definitely desirable and his depraved mind was already going through a number of obscene fantasies that he would indulge in once this was all over and both Haku and Mei were his.

"Mei is mine. Take care of the other two." Yagura said as he walked forward.

"Yagura-sama…" Yukio started.

"Don't worry, I will leave her mostly intact for you." He replied as Haku, Chojuro and Mei prepared themselves.

"I'm not late am I?" They all turned to see Naruto standing in a tree beside them.

"What are you doing here? I told you to stay in my office in case someone came!" Mei shouted, angered at the blond's apparent dismissal of her orders.

"First of all, I'm not a mist shinobi so I didn't really have to obey that order. Secondly, don't worry about it. I left a few shadow clones just in case. After I felt this guy's chakra, I couldn't just stay away." Naruto said as he locked gazes with Yagura. Kyuubi had literally yelled at him to go and tear apart the former mist leader. Naruto knew he was a demon container and he was itching to take the man down for the crimes he had committed. He felt it was almost personal with them both being demon containers.

'Which one did you say was in him?' Naruto asked the fox.

'**The three tailed demon turtle. That pompous waste of space was always smug about its shell being all but impenetrable.**' Kyuubi said with a snarl of anger.

'We'll put that reputation to the test.' Naruto thought as his hand settled over his sword.

"More insects from the leaf. Yukio, take these three. The boy is mine.' Yagura said as his chakra flared.

'Good, good. It's time to put the Kyuubi container to the test.' Thought a dark figure that was observing from far away. He leaned back against a tree and prepared himself for the show.

**(End)**

**My deepest apologies about the long wait. A mixture of school and writer's block are the culprit. Don't worry though. The next one should be out in roughly a week's time.**

**So now all the players are in the game and it's time for the fate of the Mist to be decided. It's time to find out just how much team eight has improved over the last three years and I can guarantee you that it will be something to see! Oh and another dragon is going to be making an appearance next chapter, as for which one it will be well….That is a secret!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**(Mist forest)**

Yagura wasted no more time and launched himself towards Naruto. Naruto leapt back, hoping from tree to tree to find a better fighting spot. He was sure that their battle was going to be a big one and he didn't want the others to be caught in the crossfire.

"Running away? I didn't know Konoha was full of cowards." Yagura said as he formed hand signs. Naruto watched as the mist around Yagura condensed and a surge of water was shot towards Naruto. Naruto drew his sword and slashed the wave of water in half. Yagura took this opportunity to tackle Naruto. They flew through a tree together and landed on the beach.

Naruto jumped up quickly and ducked under the slash from Yagura staff. Naruto blocked with his blade and kicked Yagura's legs out from under him. Naruto stabbed with his sword towards Yagura's chest. Yagura brought his staff up and deflected the blow into the sand beside his head. Yagura back flipped to his feet and jumped onto the water. Naruto watched the former mist leader as the water around him began to churn and twist from the power Yagura was releasing.

"You will die here shinobi of konoha. You and all of your teammates will fall before me as I retake my village." Yagura said as a second tail of chakra appeared from the green chakra cloak that surrounded him.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as his eyes turned a gold color. Naruto flared his divine chakra and the golden aura appeared around him. The black dragon tattoo climbed up his neck and settled over his right eye.

"Big talk coming from someone who turned tail and ran when his village finally kicked him out." Naruto snarled as he charged after Yagura.

Yagura was not expecting the speed that Naruto now possessed and was kicked in the face before he could react. Naruto leapt above the stunned leader and punched him into the ocean. Yagura disappeared beneath the surface as Naruto landed safely on the water. The blonde shinobi looked around for his target. He was surprised when the water below him began to twist and soon Naruto found himself being pulled under by a large whirlpool.

Yagura grabbed Naruto in a headlock, intent on drowning the leaf ninja. Naruto had other ideas and slammed his head backwards, impacting Yagura in the face. The former kage released Naruto, who immediately leapt to the surface and began to race towards dry land. He was in Yagura's element as long as he remained on the ocean.

Naruto stopped as a column of water erupted in front of him. Yagura stood on the long column looking down at the blond.

"You made the mistake of coming onto my element. I will not return the favor." Yagura said as he formed hand signs. Five more columns of water shout into the sky and each turned into a water dragon.

"**Water style: Water dragon missile.**" Yagura said as the five dragons roared before flying down towards Naruto.

"**Dragon Strike!**" Naruto shouted as he slashed down. Five separate golden dragon shaped blasts intercepted the water dragons, causing a large explosion of chakra. Yagura was deeply surprised by the power the boy was wielding but Naruto was not finished.

"**Blade of wind!**" He shouted as wind chakra surrounded his blade and he slashed horizontally, cleaving through the water column that Yagura stood on. Yagura fell towards the water but Naruto was on him instantly and connected with a knee to the sternum in mid air. Yagura snarled in pain and anger and used his twin tails to slam Naruto into the ocean below and Yagura landed on his side on the water's surface. Naruto surfaced quickly and went on the offensive.

"**Shadow clone Jutsu!**" He called out as thirty clones appeared and raced towards Yagura. The former kage began to form hand signs as the clones came upon him.

"**Water style: whirlpool jutsu!**" He shouted as the water under the clones' feet began to twist into an intense whirlpool that sucked them under the water, quickly dispelling them.

Yagura turned towards Naruto and slashed at the blonde shinobi with his staff. Naruto blocked high and ducked to avoid an oncoming tail of chakra from Yagura. The second tail wrapped around his waist and began to constrict him. Naruto flared his chakra and was able to push Yagura away for a brief moment, which gave him the time to attack.

"**Slicing cyclone!**" Naruto shouted as he unleashed a large, powerful tornado from his palm. The twister slammed into Yagura and shot the mist ninja back towards the beach. Naruto rushed forward, before Yagura could recover and shot a golden chakra beam from his palm.

"**Dragon's roar!**" He shouted as the blast took Yagura back into the forest, smashing him through trees.

Naruto ran onto the beach, his breathing slightly labored. He had used a number of high powered techniques in quick succession and it was a bit taxing to his system, though his breathing evened out quickly enough. He saw, and felt the massive release of chakra that erupted from the forest and watched as Yagura slowly approached. There was a third tail of chakra swing behind him but stranger still was the large shell like shape that the tails were coming from.

"To force me to use my full power, you truly are powerful. What is your name?" Yagura asked softly.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage of Konoha." Naruto said with a look of steely determination. He couldn't stand Yagura and the reasoning went a bit deeper than what he had done to those with blood line techniques. Yagura was a demon container just like him and had also been a kage. Naruto's dream since he was young was to be the Hokage and to see what someone with a burden like his had done in the same position sent a wave of anger through the blonde.

"Why do you desire the position of a kage? Is it so that you can finally reap vengeance against those that at one time spurned you? I can feel the demonic chakra that lies within you boy. I'm sure that your life growing up is similar if not worse than all other demon containers. Tell me, were you shunned? Were you hated for your prisoner? If so then you will become just like me, a leader that rules with an iron fist, destroying all who could stand against you." Yagura said with a smirk.

Naruto's golden aura practically tripled in power at the rage he felt towards Yagura. That he would dare compare the two of them was an affront that Naruto would not allow to happen.

"I'm going to crush you." Naruto said darkly.

"I doubt that." Yagura returned as he began to spin his twin hooked staff.

**(Mist Jail)**

The loyal mist forces that were not locked in combat were shocked by what they were seeing. The quiet, dark chunin from Konoha was systematically whipping out the opposition that stood before him.

Shino bobbed and weaved through the opponents before him with a level of skill that would shock anyone that knew how an Aburame preferred to attack. Shino was a moving storm of chaos with a calm center. Shino was using many of his clans of insects to combat his opponents. The clan of spiders within him used the fines hairs on their bodies to determine when an opponent was about to attack. Shino would react accordingly and seem to have a sixth sense allowing him to dodge attacks he couldn't even see.

Shino used this ability to duck a kick that was coming towards his head from behind. He quickly pulled out a kunai covered in the toxin of another clan of insects known for their incredibly toxic venom. He swiftly turned and stabbed the kunai into the attackers shoulder, dropping the man instantly his heart having stopped in seconds. Shino then turned and kicked the legs out from under the mist inmate that had been coming towards his blind spot. Shino jumped over the downed opponent, throwing another kunai into his chest at the same time. He grabbed the arms of the next two opponents and covered them in his original clan of chakra draining insects, taking them down immediately.

Shino had taken out four opponents in as many seconds. The others around him took steps back from the calm, yet deadly opponent.

"No, there is no escape." Shino said as he held his arms up and unleashed the swarms from within his body. The hallway was filled with the cries of the injured and the death rattles of the dying.

Insects of all different types were released into the air. Knowing instinctively who was friend and foe from their host, they went about taking down all those marked as hostiles. The mist forces rallied behind the advancing swarm and order was close to being restored. Shino recalled his swarm and leaned against the nearest wall in exhaustion. Utilizing so many swarms at once took an enormous amount of concentration and to actually make them work together was even more difficult. Shino watched as the Mist forces continued to move through the jail, securing the fortress, with relative ease now that the first few waves had been defeated by Haku's initial assault and Shino follow up attack.

"A-abomination."

Shino turned and saw the mist prisoner that had insulted him not minutes ago glaring at him from his kneeling position on the floor. By the looks of the blood flowing from his side, he had been stabbed by a mist shinobi. The wound was bleeding profusely and the man did not have long to live.

"Before I die, I will take you down with me!" He snarled as he stood to his feet. The mist forces around Shino stepped forward, but Shino called them back.

"You've fought enough for us. Rest and allow us to finish this trash." One of the anbu stated.

"He and I have business to settle." Shino replied back in his usual tone and stepped forward.

"Die demon spawn!" the inmate snarled as he pulled out two kunai and struck. Shino ducked under the blows and kicked the man in the chest. The inmate, caring nothing for his own safety, quickly recovered and slashed Shino in the arm spilling his blood.

"Red blood. Who would have thought that something like you would bleed like the rest of us." He sneered darkly.

Shino didn't reply. He was running low on chakra and didn't have the time to waste his breath on a dead man walking. He pulled out his kusarigama, which he had become quite efficient with, and struck. The chain gave him the reach advantage and he swiftly twirled the weight around and slammed the weight into the inmates head. The dazed man had no time to recover before Shino was on him, slashing quickly yet efficiently into the man, bringing him to his knees. Shino then swiftly wrapped him with the chain and immobilized the man.

"They say that to truly know a man, you should walk a mile in his shoes." Shino said softly as he rested his hand on the man's head. Shino's insects began to crawl onto the man's skin and burrow underneath the flesh. The inmate's cries of agony were truly horrifying. The insects tunneled their way through his body, bursting blood vessels, rupturing organs, tearing through arteries, and gnawing through bone. His cries began to taper off as he died. Shino recalled his insects and put away his weapon of choice.

Shino looked at the puddle that was once a man and felt little remorse. It was because of people like him that he and Haku had lived such hardships. Those who feared what they didn't understand and hated what they feared. He looked up to see that most of the mist forces were both intimidated and impressed with his tactics. A few anbu even nodded their heads in agreement to the bigoted man's end.

'Come back safely my friends.' Shino thought weakly as an anbu caught him before he passed out from chakra exhaustion.

**(Mist forest)**

Haku stayed by Mei's side as Chojuro held Yukio back. Mei was still badly wounded from Yagura's surprise attack and Haku was trying to heal her with her limited knowledge of medical ninjutsu. As it was, Mei was not going to be able to fight Yukio at her full power, which didn't bode well for them.

"Ha! You should have never been allowed to become one of the swordsmen Chojuro. You were always too weak and cowardly." Yukio said as he batted the younger man away with a vicious slash.

Chojuro didn't reply as he grabbed his blade, hiramekarei. The two holes on the blade began to release chakra that formed around the wrapped blade and turned into the shape of a large hammer. Chojuro leapt at Yukio and slammed the giant hammer of chakra down at his fellow swordsman of the mist.

Yukio jumped away as Chojuro slammed the massive hammer into the earth, creating a large crater. Chojuro looked up with a determined stare. He would protect Mizukage-sama at all costs! Chojuro swung his blade. The chakra around the weapon morphed into a large spiked mace. Yukio brought his sword up to block the blow. However, he underestimated the sheer force behind the strike and was sent flying from the attack.

Chojuro, going on the attack, raced after the stunned swordsman and swung the chakra mace towards Yukio's prone form. The blow cracked the ground and Chojuro smiled happily.

"Don't look so pleased, boy."

Chojuro turned and ducked just in time to avoid having his head removed by the black kodachi. Yukio had used a replacement jutsu and had escaped the blow from Chojuro. He was upset at being hit by the younger man and he was going to express his anger the only way he knew how, by killing the target of that anger.

His attack was brutal and left Chojuro with little time to do anything but evade and block. Yukio knew that while powerful, Chojuro's blade was useless at short ranges. Hiramekarei was able to expel chakra and form it into weapons. However, most of the weapons Chojuro would create were large, powerful and slow weapons. Thus, as long as Yukio gave him no time to create enough space to swing his large chakra constructs, the young man had no offense to rely on.

Chojuro ducked form a vicious slash only to catch Yukio's knee to the face. Chojuro was stunned from the blow and Yukio kicked the prone swordsman in the chest. Chojuro was sent flying back where he collided with a tree and slumped to the ground. Yukio was in front of him instantly, slashing down to end the fight. Yukio had to leap back swiftly to avoid the large glob of lava that would have hit him in his side. He turned to see Mei glaring at him with Haku slightly supporting the woman.

"Don't forget about us, scum." Mei glowered angrily.

"Wait your turn woman. I will deal with you two after this weak boy is finished off." Yukio snarled.

Haku, not caring for his tone, stepped away from Mei and prepared herself for battle. She had been observing Yukio's fighting style and felt that she was the best suited to fight him. Mei was injured and Chojuro had yet to climb to his feet.

"Tough talk when you're fighting a downed opponent. Let's see how you do with a fresh opponent. I'll enjoy taking your head!" Haku shouted as she created hand signs.

"**Ice style: ice spikes!**" She shouted as the moisture on the ground froze and spikes of ice began to race towards Yukio. He narrowed his eyes and he leapt back into the branches of a tree. Undeterred, Haku ran and placed her hands on the tree, freezing it in mere moments. Yukio cursed as she jumped to the air and was instantly attacked with a hail of senbon needles. Yukio growled as he blocked what he could. Many still struck true and embedded themselves in his flesh. Yukio landed and pulled the troublesome needles out of his flesh. He rushed forward immediately and attacked Haku.

Haku was one of the fastest ninja that konoha had to offer and she was just as elusive as she was fast. She dodged Yukio's crazed attacks and kicked him in the chin, sending him back. He snarled as she rushed forward and attacked. She formed twin swords of ice and began to battle the man sword to sword.

Yukio blocked a high slash from one of the blades and grabbed her wrist before she could skewer him with the second. They were dead locked for a moment before he felt his hand that was on her wrist beginning to freeze. He released her and sidestepped, causing her to overextend. Yukio brought his sword down towards her head. He was interrupted by a large hammer that slammed into his side, sending him flying back, breaking the trunk of a tree with his body.

He had little time to recover before he saw an ominous, fast moving mist coming towards him. He leapt away as the mist hit the tree and began to eat through the thick trunk of wood. He looked up and snarled as he saw Mei and Chojuro providing cover for Haku. They stood together and Yukio was aware of how outnumbered he was. Still he had yet to reveal the true power of his sword and he felt that it was time that they had a taste of its power!

"**Water style: waterfall jutsu!**" He shouted as a large swell of water was shot towards the group. Haku grabbed Mei and jumped away from the blast. Chojuro went in the opposite direction, just as Yukio wanted. The green haired man appeared in front of the fleeing swordsman and slashed Chojuro across the chest. Chojuro cried out in pain as he dropped his sword. Yukio followed up by punching Chojuro down into the water that had yet to dissipate.

"Chojuro!" Mei shouted in concern. She had always been somewhat fond of the shy young man. He was like a cute little brother or cousin that she enjoyed teasing.

"I'll retrieve him Kaa-san." Haku said as she laid Mei on the branch of a tree and went after Chojuro, not hearing Mei's cries to wait.

Haku landed on the water and grabbed the downed man. Yukio watched her from the water's surface with a predatory smirk. He rushed to her, not wanting to give her time to escape. Haku dodged as best she could but took a glancing blow to her left forearm and leapt back as she formed one handed signs to launch a wave of water at the crazed man. The attack caught Yukio flat footed and he was swept back as Haku landed on dry land and leaned Chojuro against a tree trunk to check his wound. It didn't look that deep, which Haku was thankful for.

"And now the fun begins!" Yukio said as he walked towards them. He was holding his chest and Haku could tell from his wheezing that she had probably cracked a rib with her last attack. Despite this, he looked as though he was in control of the fight.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Haku said as she stood up and readied herself. Yukio pointed his blade towards her and she saw a glow of chakra beginning to surround it. Haku was confused as to what he was doing before she felt something strange in her wounded arm. It suddenly reached towards her throat on its own accord! Haku grabbed her arm and was shocked that she had no control over it. There was a strange mark that had formed where she had been cut.

"How do you like the special power of my blade? Any limb that it cuts, becomes mine to control!" he said with an insane laugh. Haku glared at the man as she concentrated and ice began to form on her left arm until the limb was completely encased. Haku released the traitorous limb as it was now unable to move. She couldn't believe that his blade had that kind of ability!

"Ultimate control. That is the power of my blade and it is what I want most in the world. Soon you and your mother will be my playthings girl. Your bodies will be my puppets while your minds will be free but unable to control yourselves." He said with glee as he watched Haku pull out more senbon with her remaining arm.

"I won't allow you to touch me again." Haku said softly.

"Who said that I'll be the one you'll be fighting anymore?" He asked with a dark look.

Haku didn't reply as she felt an arm wrap around her neck from behind. She looked back and saw that Chojuro had her in a strangling hold. His eyes were dull and he seemed to be in a trance.

"Did I forget to mention that should my blade cut into the chest or the back, then the victim's entire body belongs to me? It must have slipped my mind." He said with a sinister grin as Chojuro applied pressure to the hold.

"Hold her Chojuro. This will be over in a moment." Yukio said as he raced forward to strike Haku in her vulnerable chest, thereby gaining control over her.

Yukio was denied his prize when he was hit by a flying kick from Mei. Yukio was sent flying back with a grunt of pain. He had momentarily forgotten about the downed kage and that was a mistake. Mei fell to one knee as she coughed up a bit of blood. She snarled at her damaged body and couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to be put in this situation.

Yagura had caught her with her guard down and the injuries he had inflicted upon her were going to slow her down significantly. Despite Haku's brief healing jutsu, Mei could tell that she had a few broken ribs and a slight concussion. This wouldn't make fighting Yukio any easier though she had done it before.

The last time they had crossed each other in battle was when the coup against Yagura had come to its conclusion. Yagura knew he was beaten and fled the village. Yukio stood with the remaining loyal mist forces and had been controlling anyone that fought him. Mei had been the one to fight and defeat the man, but that had only come about as she was at full strength and knew about Yukio's sword's ability. She had been able to separate him from the blade, and once that took place, all his victims would regain control over their bodies.

"I see you still have some fight in you. I like that. It's so much more satisfying when they fight back." Yukio said as he stood to his feet. He called Chojuro over and his fellow swordsman released Haku and appeared at Yukio's side.

"Release him!" Mei said as Haku stood beside her.

"And why would I do that? He should be a great asset in helping me acquire the two of you. Chojuro attack Mei's beloved daughter and subdue her. I'll be over to take control of her after I'm finished taking revenge against her mother." Yukio said as Chojuro raced forward in compliance.

"Stop him Haku-chan. I will handle Yukio." Mei said simply.

"Are you sure?" Haku asked.

"Trust me. I've already beaten him once." Mei said as Haku nodded and ran to the side, leading Chojuro away from the two high powered ninja.

"I'll have you on your knees before me." Yukio said with a dark look in his jade eyes.

"We shall see." Mei said as she readied herself for battle.

**(Hinata)**

Hinata dodged another blow from Gihen as she back flipped to avoid being struck by one of the fake mist anbu. So far the battle had been more of a race for survival. Hinata was fighting against a numerically superior opponent, all of whom were at her level or higher. It was not an advantageous position. However, they knew little about fighting someone like her and that was what was allowing her to stay alive during the fight.

Gihen was obviously the one in charge and would stand back and send his men in to fight her, only stepping in when he thought she was vulnerable, a cowardly move, but also an effective one. Hinata knew she had to figure out a way to take one or two of them out. It was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed her position. Hinata glared at her opponents before she turned and ran away.

"After her!" Gihen shouted as they took to the trees.

Hinata continued to move swiftly through the trees until she saw through her enhanced Byakugan that one member of the enemy ninja was pulling slightly ahead of his teammates. Hinata smiled at achieving her goal as she went through hand signs and suddenly turned around.

"**Water style: water torrent!**" She shouted as two streams of high powered water flew towards the ninja. The lead ninja was surprised when the two streams bypassed him and flew towards his teammates. He turned to see if they were alright, which gave Hinata the opening she sought. She flew towards the ninja and stabbed him in the back with her twin daggers. She pierced his spine and heart, killing him instantly and was soon off running once again. Her death blows had come mere moments after she unleashed her attack.

She soon saw the remaining members' chakra signatures beginning to start after her one again. However, this time she used the mist to her advantage and jumped to the ground, hiding behind the trunk of the tree nearest to her. She focused on lowering her chakra signature as much as she could, effectively shutting it down.

She waited until she could sense the approaching ninja. She felt them fly over her and swiftly flared her chakra to its full power. The nearest ninja turned and flew towards her position. Hinata held out her hand and formed her bow of divine chakra. She pulled back her first arrow and shot it with expert precision. Thanks to her byakugan, her aim was perfect and she hit the approaching shinobi from a few meters away. The attack came so swiftly that the ninja had no time to dodge and the arrow of chakra went through his chest before it exploded, ripping the corpse apart.

Hinata smiled as she raced in the opposite direction from the enraged mist traitors. She could practically hear Gihen shouting profane words about her. She had cut their numbers down to three, counting Gihen and Hinata had a feeling that he was not as powerful as he made himself out to be. Still, they had the numbers advantage against her and fighting them all at once would be difficult. Hinata thought about using similar tactics to take out another but she was sure that Gihen had them in tight formation at the moment. He was not going to allow one to separate themselves from the group.

Knowing this, Hinata decided that it was time to attack head on, numbers advantage or not. She briefly wondered how Ao was doing before heading towards the group of ninja.

**(Ao)**

Ao and Kano continued to do battle as they traded blows. Kano was infuriated at the man that had taken his job as the head of the hunter ninja of the mist village and he was determined to take Ao's head. Ao was keeping a calm demeanor and continued to fight, despite Kano's superior strength.

"I'll enjoy adding your name to the long list of those I've killed Ao." Kano said as she struck with a kunai.

Ao didn't respond as he continued to bat Kano's strikes away with a kunai of his own. He pulled out a pair of senbon and threw them at the man. Kano ducked and took a kick to the chin from Ao. Ao followed up by stabbing Kano in the chest. The ex mist ninja dissolved into water and Ao was left alone in the mist.

"I won't fall that easily Ao. You should know that." Kano's voice said from the mist. Ao didn't respond as he searched for Kano. The man was very good at setting traps, as both he and Hinata had discovered earlier. Ao stopped short when he noticed a trip wire by his feet. He tripped it and watched as the area in front of him was littered by senbon. Ao picked one up and noticed the poison on the needle. He immediately felt something overtake him as his vision began to blur.

'Genjutsu.' Ao thought as he realized that the trap had only been a decoy to get him to lower his guard. Ao formed the hand sign to disperse the technique.

Ao ducked and avoided a kick from Kano. However, he felt a burning pain in his shoulder and looked to see a senbon sticking out of it. He pulled it out and noticed that it too had been poisoned.

"It looks like I win Ao. That poison will stop your heart in a matter of seconds. It's my own special blend. I loved using it so my targets would have a small amount of time to realize that their lives were about to end yet there was nothing they could do about it." Kano said with a smile of accomplishment.

"And that is the difference between you and me." Ao said, speaking for the first time.

"And what is that?" Kano asked in confusion.

"A true hunter nin kills his opponent before they ever are aware of his presence." Ao said as he rose to his feet, seemingly unharmed.

Kano had no time to figure out what had gone wrong before Ao was on him. Ao moved faster than before and threw his senbon at Kano with swift accuracy. Kano dodged all but one. One senbon struck home into his arm. Kano went to form a swift replacement jutsu as he saw Ao coming at him with twin kunai.

Kano was shocked when he couldn't form chakra with his arm. Ao stuck the two blades into Kano's chest and twisted the blades. Kano's face showed shock, confusion, and finally went blank as he died. Ao pulled out his kunai and cleaned them before putting them away. Kano would die never knowing how Ao had done what he had done.

**(Ocean shore)**

Naruto dodged another blast of water that Yagura shot at him as he glared at the former kage. The battle had not been going in Naruto's favor after Yagura brought forth his full power. For some reason, every blow that Naruto attempted seemed to bounce off the shell of chakra that surrounded the man. Kyuubi simply stated that the tree tails was the most powerful of the bijuu in terms of defense. According to the fox, the three tailed turtle's shell was strong enough to take a full powered chakra blast from most of the other demons, with only Kyuubi and the eight tailed demon being the exceptions.

"You are beginning to bore me. Is this the best you can do?" Yagura asked Naruto as he brushed away another slash from Naruto's blade and kicked the blond shinobi back. Naruto, bloody and injured stood to his feet as he gazed at his fellow demon container.

"You want more? Fine then but you should be careful of what you wish for!" Naruto snarled at Yagura as the golden aura around him began to intensify. He closed his eyes and concentrated on channeling more divine chakra through his body. Yagura actually took a step back from the massive increase in chakra that was coming from Naruto. Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Yagura and kicked him into the air.

"**Hidden shadow snakes!**" Naruto shouted as serpents flew from his trench coat and wrapped around Yagura. He slammed the former kage into the earth and jumped into the air.

"**Dragon storm!**" Naruto shouted as the large white dragon blast flew from the now darkened sky and slammed into the creator that Naruto ahd made. The resulting explosion was massive and Naruto landed on the ocean to avoid any damage. He watched as Yagura climbed out of the hole. He was frustrated when he saw that Yagura had only taken minor wounds. The chakra shell around him saving him from most of the damage. However, Naruto could tell that Yagura was using a majority of his chakra to keep the shell intact.

'This is getting annoying.' Naruto thought as Yagura began to go through hand signs.

"**Water style: water hydra!**" He shouted as a large column of water rose from the ocean and morphed into a three headed serpent. The heads struck at Naruto, how jumped back and used his blade of wind to cut the heads off of two of them. However, like its namesake, the hydra grew two heads for every one that Naruto cut off. Nartuo found himself dodging the strikes from the hydra and could see Yagura was enjoying his situation.

Naruto refused to be toyed with anymore and focused a large amount of divine chakra into his blade. As the hydra struck, Naruto unleashed the concentrated burst of chakra and split the beast in half. Yagura appeared from the water underneath the blond ninja and wrapped his tails around Naruto. Naruto cried out as Yagura took him under water once again to attempt to drown him. Naruto was not going to allow this to take place as he made a desperate move and actually forced his divine chakra into Yagura's shell. The two chakras clashed, as was their nature, and the resulting explosion blew the two combatants apart.

Naruto quickly resurfaced and attempted to catch his breath. He saw Yagura surface as well and while he still had three tails of chakra behind him, the chakra shell was gone. Naruto ordered his weary body to move and rushed towards the still stunned Yagura. Naruto punched the man in the face and swiftly took his legs out from under him. He kicked Yagura's staff away and slashed the former mist kage across his right arm. Yagura hissed in pain and attacked with his tails. Naruto dodged as best he could but took a blow from one that sent him skidding back along the water's surface.

"**Dragon strike!**" Naruto shouted as he got to his feet and let loose the golden blast. Yagura could only bring his arms up to defend himself before the attack connected and sent him flying back. Naruto, not wanting to let up rushed forward and appeared in front of Yagura holding a swirling ball of chakra.

"**Rasengan!**" Naruto shouted as he slammed the high powered jutsu into Yagura's chest. The rasengan met resistance from the chakra surrounding Yagura but the Yondamie's jutsu would not be denied and connected with Yagura, sending the three tail's container shooting back with blood coming from his mouth.

"Enough of this! I have had enough of you interference boy! Die now!" Yagura shouted in pain and fury as he began hand signs.

"**Water style: Tidal surge!**" Yagura shouted with a dark smile as he unleashed his most powerful water jutsu. A huge wave of water formed under him and rose into the air until it reached roughly twenty feet in height. The tidal wave was sent straight at Naruto and he had absolutely no room to dodge. The attack was obviously being powered by Yagura's demonic chakra and that meant that the damage it would cause would be horrific.

"**Wind style: Hurricane Gale!**" Naruto shouted as he focused a significant amount of divine chakra into his most powerful wind jutsu. Naruto unleashed the technique by thrusting both of his palms out and sending a truly staggering amount of high powered wind out to meet the approaching wave. This technique was something only someone like Naruto could use as he was using a huge amount of chakra to force the surrounding air to condense and burst in the direction of his choosing with enough power to level buildings.

The two high powered techniques clashed in an eruption of water and wind as the techniques battled for supremacy. They eventually cancelled one another out and the shockwave released sent the two ninja flying back. Naruto was shot towards the shore and Yagura was sent flying off into the distance.

Naruto struggled to his feet and panted in exhaustion. He wasn't sure what condition Yagura was in but he was almost out of energy. He felt something that he desperately prayed wouldn't take place. A wave of malice came from deep within the ocean and Naruto could see a huge dark shape rising from the ocean.

Naruto bore witness to the arrival of the three tailed turtle. The massive beast was as huge as its chakra was powerful. Its eyes connected with his own and he could see intelligence in the giant orbs.

"**Gaze upon my face Naruto Uzumaki. For it is the face of your doom! I have decided that I will no longer retake the village. Its inhabitants stood against me together and together they shall fall!**" Yagura's booming voice echoed as the turtle sank back into the dark depths of the ocean.

Unsure of what he had planned Naruto gripped his sword and focused on the blade itself. Naruto opened his eyes to see him in a place of complete white. This represented the mindscape that Naruto used to communicate with the dragons under his command.

"I need some help here." Naruto said quickly. A red orb appeared in front of Naruto and he heard Drac's voice.

'**You are fighting the three tailed turtle correct? I would be at a disadvantage against such an opponent, especially in that environment.**' Drac stated. A white orb floated beside Drac and Tetsyua spoke.

'**I've no desire to fight against that turtle. I require a stronger opponent.**' The ice dragon stated with a snort.

"You fought that kraken all those years ago." Naruto pointed out.

'**That's because I was bored. Once that turtle gets a look at me, he'll remain in his shell and never come out to fight. That's way too boring for me. Find someone else.**' She stated as the white orb floated away.

"That was helpful." Naruto muttered.

'**She's not in a good mood today. I apologize for her.**' Drac said.

Naruto looked around and saw a green orb, brown orb, and blue orb floating away from him. Naruto wasn't that surprised about the brown orb. That represented the earth dragon. Not only would he be at a disadvantage in the ocean, he was far too grumpy to willingly help Naruto like this. He only barley tolerated the young man. Naruto wasn't that close with the water dragon, though she was probably the best fit. The wind dragon leaving was a bit discouraging as Naruto had a somewhat friendly relationship with the lord of wind.

'**I will fight for you Naruto.**' Drac said as he realized that his brothers and sisters were unwilling to fight beside him. Despite them all giving him the right to summon them, he had to actually ask them to fight beside him or they would simply return back to their plane of existence the moment that he summoned them.

"Alright then. It doesn't matter if you're weak against water. We'll stand together and take that turtle down." Naruto said with a smile as his long time companion agreed to help him. Naruto disappeared from the mindscape and the blue orb floated over the Drac.

'**Why are you willing to put yourself in danger little brother? The human has some talent but he is still unworthy of our power.**' The feminine voice of the water dragon questioned.

'**You've all seen what he has gone through in his life. He is a fighter the likes of which we haven't seen for generations. You all even gave him the right to summon you and yet now when he needs help you all turn your backs against him! He was given the beacon for a reason and I will obey and trust in Kami's decision. If you will not stand with me then get out of my way sister!**' Drac shouted as his orb disappeared to aid Naruto in battle.

'**You are still too young and naive little brother.**' The waster dragon stated angrily. She looked over to her brothers and sister and could tell that Tetsyua and the wind dragon were a bit ashamed, though the earth dragon gave a snort showing the words meant little to him.

Naruto opeaned his eyes and pointed his blade to the sky. A golden beam of light went into the clouds and a loud roar echoed across the sky. Drac suddenly appeared and flew above Naruto. Yagura was shocked to see an actual dragon appear before him, though the three tailed turtle assured him that the fire dragon was out of his element and would only fall before them as well.

"**Your little pet will not help you Uzumaki. He will only die with you!**" Yagura shouted.

"**Don't underestimate my power!**" Drac roared as he unleashed a wave of flames towards the giant demon. The turtle waved a tail and a giant wave extinguished the flames within moments.

"**Pathetic, is that all you've got?**" Yagura said smugly.

Naruto jumped on top of Drac's head and prepared himself for battle, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that he and his close summon were in for an uphill battle.

**(Mist forest)**

Haku ducked under the giant chakra hammer that was sent her way. Chojuro had been able to retrieve his weapon and he was using it effectively against her. Haku was still trying to find an opening against the surprisingly powerful ninja. It was a bit ironic. Chojuro always doubted his own power but under the control of Yukio, he was fighting to his full potential as he wasn't able to mentally question his actions. Also, it didn't help that she only had the use of her right hand. Thankfully Haku was very proficient at using one handed signs. Haku jumped back and formed hand signs.

"**Water bullet!**" She shouted as she unleashed a high powered ball of water. Chojuro calmly swatted the ball out of the air with a swing of his massive chakra hammer. The hammer then transformed into a giant axe and he swung it at Haku. Haku moved as the blade cleaved through the tree behind her. Knowing that she had no other choice, Haku pulled out a scroll and summoned Zabuza's sword.

Chojuro showed no emotion at the arrival of the giant blade and swung his own at her once again. Haku blocked with Zabuza's blade and held her ground from the massive amount of force being exerted on her. Chojuro was physically powerful as well it seemed.

"Please Chojuro-san, I do not want to fight you. You can overcome his control!" Haku shouted. It had no effect as Chojuro suddenly morphed the axe into a kanabo and swung the giant studded club down onto Haku's blade. Haku was not able to withstand the force with only one hand and was driven to her feet. Chojuro swung horizontally and knocked Haku back into a tree, cracking her ribs.

Haku was having a hard time fighting Chojuro at full strength as she knew that he was not in control of his actions. However, she was left with no choice but to attack and hope to restrain him. Still this was easier said than done considering Chojuro was a member of the seven swordsman of the mist for a reason.

Haku sung her blade and Chojuro swiftly parried with his chakra club and knocked the overextended blade out of Haku's grasp. He immediately rushed forward and swung the club down. Haku jumped back at the last moment. However, Chojuro swiftly reformed the club in an axe and slashed Haku across the chest. She coughed up blood from the wound as well as the force behind the blade and was sent tumbling across the ground.

'Forgive me Chojuro-san.' Haku thought as she formed her hand signs.

"**Demon Ice Mirriors!**" She shouted as a dome of ice mirrors surrounded the controlled swordsman. Haku appeared in all of the dorms and readied herself to take him down.

Mei ducked under Yukio's slash and kicked out at the man. Yukio brought his blade up and Mei stopped her foot short of hitting the blade. She was having a difficult time fighting this man and she once again cursed her weakened body. She ran through hand signs and expelled a highly corrosive mist at Yukio. The mist prisoner ran back swiftly from the acid and Mei went of the attack.

"**Lava style: sea of magma!**" She shouted as she spate out a flowing river of superheated rock. She stood on top of the river and smirked at the man. Just as Mei was immune to the acid clouds she could release, so was she immune to the high heat of the lava, just as Haku was immune to the freezing temperatures she produced.

"Do you plan to stand there all day?" Yukio asked from the tree he was currently standing on. Mentally he was cursing the woman's ingenuity. By turning a majority of the ground into lava, she was ensuring that he had to keep a set distance. Also, he could see the lava burning through the tree trunks around her and setting the trees ablaze. This would also stop him from using the trees above her to his advantage.

"If you want to do something about it than go right ahead." Mei said smugly as she took this time to take a breather.

They both stopped when they felt a wave of malevolent chakra wash over them. Both recognized the power and Yukio smiled in joy.

"It seems that the real Mizukage is releasing his full power! Even if you are able to defeat me, you have no chance of defeating him in his current state! Surrender woman." He said with a mad cackle.

"Never! I will never bow to the likes of you, even if it should cost me my life!" Mei shouted as she went through hand signs.

"**Lava dragon!**" She shouted as the lava under her feet formed into a dragon of molten rock and launched itself at Yukio. The man swiftly fled from the attack as it completely disintergrated the tree he had been on. Mei directed the move to follow Yukio. However, the mist swordsman turned and hurled his blade at Mei. She was forced the end her jutsu to dodge the blade. Yukio immediately went at her and tackled her to the ground. He got one punch to her beautiful face before she kneed him in the chest and kicked him off of her.

She stood to her feet and attacked. She had used a large amount of her chakra using her blood limit techniques and was forced to conserve her remaining chakra and resorted to using taijutsu. Still she was a kage for a reason and her blows were much more powerful than an average ninja's. Yukio discovered this when she punched him in the face and sent him skidding back. Mei rushed forward to slam her leg into the ground when she felt danger coming from behind her. She sidestepped quickly but was too slow and took a glancing blow to her arm. She struck swiftly and crushed the head of the water clone that Yukio had formed before attacking her to retrieve his blade.

Mei saw her arm go dead as it was under Yukio's control. She pulled out a kunai and swiftly severed the ligaments, stopping it from being able to move at all.

"And now you only have one arm. What will you do now I wonder?" Yukio said with a dark grin as he attacked in earnest.

**(Hinata)**

Hinata watched as Gihen and his remaining two comrades landed in front of her. She could feel the rage rolling off of them and couldn't help but feel amused at their anger. They had believed her to be an easy target. She was sure that their thoughts centered on being made fools of by a foreign ninja and a woman no less.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you limb from limb girl!" One of the ex hunter ninja snarled as he advanced towards her. Gihen grabbed the man by the arm to restrain him.

"Wait you idiot! That's how the others lost their lives. She is not to be underestimated." Gihen said as he gave them directions. Gihen remained in front of her while the others flanked her on the right and left, effectively cutting off any lane of attack she could make. If she attacked any other them, they would be able to both protect their comrade and attack her blind spot, though the byakugan made the second point invalid.

"Attack!" Gihen shouted as all three rushed towards Hinata. The two anbu unleashed powerful water techniques to try and drive her towards Gihen who was waiting his blade out to strike her down.

Hinata, nonplussed, activated her newest jutsu.

"**Protection of the eight trigrams 64 palms!**" She shouted as she flew towards Gihen and began to move her arms.

This technique was one of Hinata's own design and took advantage of her natural flexibility. She emitted a constant flow of chakra from her palms creating extremely strong and sharp chakra blades. Hinata was able to reach any part of her body with this technique and her arms became blurs and a net of chakra blades surrounded her. The water techniques were shredded by the jutsu and never made contact with her. Gihen was taken by surprise by the move but was too slow to get out of the way.

Hinata's chakra blades shredded through Gihen's sword like paper and continued on to dice the traitorous ninja into hundreds of bloody chunks of flesh and bone. Hinata landed behind Gihen as he literally fell to pieces. She looked over her shoulder to glare at the remaining two ninja. There wasn't even a drop of blood on her cloths.

The two mist ninja were shocked. They had never seen such a destructive yet beautiful jutsu. This one girl had taken out two of their comrades and Gihen as well, who was no weak ninja. They were swiftly rethinking their plans on attacking her. They decided that it would be wise to fall back from the woman.

"You started this fight and you think you're going to just walk away because you're losing? Think again!" Hinata shouted as the white glow around her suddenly flared in power as she went through hand signs.

"**Divine Punishment!**" She shouted as the white chakra expanded outward, engulfing the men. Their agonizing screams echoed through the forest for a few seconds before they abruptly ended. The white dome receded back to Hinata and she fell to her knees in exhaustion. She had used quite a bit of chakra and needed to rest. She looked over to the mutilated bodies of the two men and could only shake her head as they had effectively caused their own deaths.

The divine punishment jutsu was made specifically for corrupt opponents. Unless the opponent had a power close to or stronger than hers, they would fall prey to the jutsu. It was an angelic jutsu that caused damage proportionally to the evil, hate filled actions the victim had committed in their lives. There were limitations of course though. The jutsu had a set range of a few feet so any opponent fast enough could escape in time. Also, the jutsu's strength was linked with Hinata's. Had she been any weaker when activating it, it would have only caused minor to severe wounds.

Hinata felt a chill run down her spine as she felt a wave of demonic chakra flow across the land. She also felt a large release of divine chakra and knew that Naruto had called upon one of his dragons. She only hoped that one other than Drac had answered the call. The fire dragon may have been Naruto's best friend but he was also the weakest and youngest of the dragon lords.

She had a feeling that Drac wouldn't be enough.

**(Ocean)**

Things were not going well for Naruto and Drac. True to his statement, Drac was at a severe disadvantage fighting in a water environment. Not only that, but much to Drac chagrin, he had to admit that the three tailed turtle was simply more powerful than he. Still, that didn't stop the crimson dragon from fighting back with all he had.

Drac launched three giant fireballs as Naruto unleashed dragon strike from his head. The three tailed turtle, under Yagura's command simply dove under the water to avoid the attack.

"**Fight coward!**" Drac roared angrily. Yagura would do the same thing every time. He would either dive under the water or he would have the turtle retract into its shell which could withstand an enormous amount of power before even budging.

"**Very well**."

A column of water exploded from the ocean to hit Drac directly in the chin. The dragon was stunned and unable to stop the three tails from the giant tortoise wrapping around his body and dragging both he and Naruto into the ocean.

"**Get off me Naruto, now!**" Drca ordered as he came face to face with the three tailed demon. Naruto released Drac and resurfaced. He couldn't see what was going on but he saw a bright red glow under the water before an inferno of fire erupted from the ocean. Drac flew out of the water, but Naruto could see that is friend was severely hurt. Blood was running from wounds all over his body and he was barely able to stay in the air. Drac had generated as much power as he could around himself and released it, in a desperate attempt to both free and possibly injure the great demon. It hadn't worked.

"**Pathetic**." Came Yagura's voice as the undamaged turtle appeared above the water. Drac growled weakly as he shot a burst of fire at the demon. The turtle didn't even bother to dodge, instead deciding to swat away the weak attack with one of its tails before slamming it into Drac back, downing the dragon lord of fire. Naruto rushed over to his friend, desperate to do something.

"Drac, you've got to get up!" Naruto shouted as he attempted to draw the remaining divine chakra from his body and use it to heal his friend. Drac didn't respond as he attempted to rise to his feet. He was stopped by another giant tail slamming into his back. Drac fell limp and Naruto could only watch as the three tails wrapped around his body and pulled the unconscious dragon towards the turtle.

"**I will be merciful and put you out of your misery.**" Yagura's voice said as a dark ball of demonic chakra began to gather in front of the turtle's mouth. Naruto could tell that it would be the end of his friend unless he did something.

'Hey! I don't know what your problem with me is and I really don't care but are you really going to allow your little brother to die like this because you want to spite me?' Naruto mentally shouted at his blade and the dragons listening. Suddenly, the blue gem on the handle glowed brightly as a beam of chakra shot into the ocean.

Yagura ceased his attack when he felt a more powerful presence reveal itself. He threw Drac back onto the shore as a deep growl emitted from under the waves. A large dark shape began to rise up from the ocean depths and in an explosion of water, the water dragon surfaced.

She was a deep blue in color had had several sea green spines running along her body. A large bony crown was on her head and a sea green gem was in the middle of her forehead. She was different from Tetsuya and Drac in that she had no limbs. She was truly a creature of the sea and could not leave it, not that she wanted to.

"**You are such an idiot little brother. Fighting an opponent you know is out of your league.**" She stated as she turned her blue eyes towards the still injured Drac.

"**Which wouldn't have happened if you would have stopped being so self righteous!**" Drac weakly growled back before she sent a small wave of water crashing into his face for the comment.

"**Shut up and return so that you may heal yourself.**" She said dismissively as she turned from him.

"**Good luck Naruto.**" Drac stated as he disappeared in a flash of light.

"**While my brother may be a brat, I will not allow one such as you to be the cause of his death.**" The water dragon stated as she turned her attention to Yagura.

"**All I hear is talk! Prove your supposed superiority.**" Yagura snarled as the three tailed turtle mentally warned him to beware of the water dragon. While they had never battled in the past, the three tailed demon could tell that she was not an opponent he would really want to go up against.

Naruto jumped onto the head of the water dragon, only to get violently shaken off mere seconds later.

"**And what do you think you were doing? I have no need for thae assistance of an unworthy summoner and I certainly didn't give you permission to get on me.**" She all but snarled.

"And I don't recall asking for permission! After what I've gone through and what Drac has gone through, you should almost be begging his forgiveness for what you did." Naruto shouted back in fury.

"You're his sister and yet you allowed him to go out into a battle that you knew he wasn't able to win just because you were too stubborn to help me. I've met others like you before. You think that you're more special than everyone else for one reason or another and you look down on almost everyone!" Naruto continued as he got to his feet and glared at the water dragon.

From the first time he's met her, she had been a pain in his butt. She was probably the most pompous of the dragons and seemed to think that she was above them because she was one of the oldest. Naruto couldn't stand her personality, hence why he never summoned her before.

"**I am the dragon lord of water, Adalinda. I have existed before your species was even a thought in Kami's mind. How dare you speak to me as if we were equals! Know your place boy!**" Adalinda said in a deathly still tone.

"Why don't you go back to where you came from? I really have nothing more to say to someone who refuses to listen and I would rather die here than accept help from someone like you." Naruto said dismissively as he walked onto the water, ignoring Adalinda.

Naruto stopped when he felt himself being raised into the air. He looked down and was surprised to find himself on top of Adalinda's head. She had dove under the water and rose up with him on her head.

"**Don't misunderstand. I still can't stand you, but I will not allow you to get in my way. Just stay on my head and keep quiet.**" She said shortly. Naruto didn't reply though a smile did spread across his face.

"**Are you done talking? I am ready to kill you.**" Yagura said with an irritated tone.

"**I consider your kind even lower than humans. Watch your tone.**" She said as she turned her attention to the three tailed turtle.

"**Come and make me worm**."

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine as he could literally feel the rage rolling off of Adalinda. She was a very prideful creature and wasn't above threatening her own siblings if she felt slighted. To be called a worm was probably going to end in a death sentence for the former kage.

"**I hope you don't have any plans on saving this soon to be dead ninja boy.**" She hissed at Naruto. Naruto shook his head. He wasn't about to get between her and her prey.

"**Time to die!**" Yagura shouted as he swung one of his tails. A giant wave was sent towards the duo. Naruto prepared for Adalinda to dodge, however the giant dragon made no such move. She watched as the wave approached without flinching. As it came ever closer she opened her mouth a let loose an earth shattering roar. The wave of water literally split around her before dissipating.

"**W-what?**" Yagura shouted in disbelief.

"**I am Adalinda the dragon lord of water. Do you really believe that you can defeat me surrounded by my own element?**" She said in a tone that was both amused and offended.

"**Allow me to show you what true power is!**" She shouted as she opened her mouth and a large ball of water appeared in it. She casually shot the ball of water towards Yagura. The three tailed turtle retraced back into his shell. The ball of water slammed into the shell and sent the giant demon flying back through the water. There was a small crack on its shell.

"**Impossible!**" Yagura said with a hint of fear in his voice.

"**Did you really think that you were the ruler of the ocean? How foolish, allow me to educate you on who it is that controls the ocean depths.**" She said with a savage smile, revealing her sharp teeth.

**(Mist forest)**

Mei was on one knee in exhaustion. Having used so many high powered techniques and having an injured body while do it, left her very drained. She smiled though as she saw that she was not the only one injured. Yukio had avoided most of her attacks but that was because he seemed content to stay back and ambush her. He had made this decision when he realized that he was not powerful enough to fight Mei one on one, despite her injuries. It was a blow to his pride but he had assured himself that he would pay her back ten times for that humiliation when he was in control of her body.

"Do you really believe that you have what it takes to defeat me Yukio? You will slip up eventually and then I will remove your head from your body." Mei said as she got to her feet. Even with one hand, she was a deadly opponent.

Yukio didn't reply as he created five water clones. None would come close to really hurting Mei as they were only one tenth the strength of Yukio. However, they would do as a distraction and Yukio had a plan in mind. He and his clones rushed for Mei. All of the clones held a copy of Yukio's blade, but only the real one had any power. Yukio was hoping that Mei would lose him in the rush of attackers and give him an opening.

Mei was not afraid and met the attack head on. Even with one arm she weaved in and out of the attack pattern of the clones and was careful to avoid every sword. She slammed her knee in the sternum of one Yukio, reducing it to water. She turned swiftly and ducked under the slash of another as she backhanded one trying to sneak up on her. This left her with four opponents left. Mei was flanked by two on each side and she noticed one standing farther back than the others. Deducing this one to be the real Yukio, Mei quickly ran through one handed signs as the other's all struck. Mei burst into a cloud of acid that completely destroyed the clones.

'Where did she go?' Yukoio thought as he felt someone behind him. He turned and swung his blade. Mei grabbed his hand with hers to stop his attack. She brought her leg up and kicked Yukio in the head with all of her strength, snapping his neck as his head rotated until it was turned backwards.

'Not a decapitation, but it'll do.' Mei thought before the body turned into water.

"What? Where did he go?" Mei asked herself as she looked around for him. She couldn't feel his chakra which meant that either he was hiding very well or that he was not in the vicinity. If the latter was true then where would he have gone?

'Haku-chan!' Mei thought suddenly as she realized that the clones were mere distractions. She raced towards the chakra signature of her daughter, desperate to make it to her in time.

Haku was still utilizing her demon ice mirrors to try and subdue Chojuro. However, the mist swordsman was doing a fantastic job of avoiding her blows and smashing her mirrors. His swords had both the chakra and the force to shatter her mirrors. Had Haku been trying to kill Chojuro, then she was mostly sure that she would have been able to succeed. However, she knew that he was not fighting under his own commands and her kind heart refused to allow her to kill him. Haku could feel that ice mirrors sapping her chakra at a fast rate and knew that she had to end this before her injuries and exhaustion caught up with her.

Making a decision, Haku let her technique end as she created an ice sword to wield. She rushed towards Chojuro quickly and got within the reach of his sword. This didn't deter the mentally controlled ninja and he kicked out towards her head, hoping to either connect or force her back. Haku ducked and slashed up with her blade. Chojuro jumped back and only took a small cut to the chest. He morphed his sword into a club and swung it at Haku. Haku substituted with a log and jumped into a tree as she concentrated.

Chojuro stopped moving as he clutched his chest. He looked down and could see ice growing out of the small cut. Haku had been able to break off a small piece of her sword into the wound, which gave her a point to focus her chakra control over. The freezing temperature was directly over Chojuro's core body and his body was going into hypothermia. It reacted as all humans do in such a situation and began to constrict the blood vessels in his limbs to focus the warm blood into his chest, hoping to warm itself.

This left Chojuro's hands and legs numb and he dropped his sword and he fell to his knees. Haku raced down and delivered a kick directly to his temple. Chojuro's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell unconscious. Haku used her power to force the ice to stop spreading and pulled it from his body. When he finally woke up, he would be stiff and in pain, but alive and hopefully free from Yukio's influence.

'I wonder how Kaa-san is doing.' She thought as she moved to tie Chojuro up. It wouldn't do for him to wake up before Yukio was stopped. Haku froze when she felt a powerful presence behind her.

"You shouldn't let your guard down!" Yukio shouted as he slashed towards the shocked ice user.

"No!" Mei shouted as she arrived and tackled Haku out of the way, taking the blow in the back.

'Kaa-san!' Haku thought as she felt Mei covering her with her body. Haku looked into her mother's eyes and was horrified to see them begin to turn hollow just as Chojuro's had done.

"Finally, I have my prize. My dear Mei would you please come and join me?' Yukio said with a dark cackle. Mei rose and walked slowly towards the man having no control over her body.

"Release her!" Haku shouted in fury as she rose and dove towards Yukio, seeking to strangle the man to death with her one working hand.

"Mei restrain your daughter." He said calmly.

Mei appeared in front of Haku and kicked her in the chest, Haku's breath quickly left her body at the harsh blow and she fell to the ground, stunned by the physical strength of her mother. Mei grabbed Haku around her throat and raised her into the air with her one arm. Yukio walked beside the mist kage and rested his arm across her shoulders.

"I took a while but I finally have my prize under my control. I can't wait to finally show her where she has always belonged. But don't worry about it. I wouldn't dare separate a mother and daughter. Not when they can both be mine!" He said as he brought his sword up and pointed the dark blade at Haku's chest.

'No! I refuse to become a puppet to this man!' Haku thought as she struggled. She quickly stopped when Mei slammed her knee into Haku's chest taking all fight out of the injured girl. Haku was low on chakra, had only one usable arm, and was being beaten by her mother who had no control over her actions. Not only that but an evil, lecherous, sadistic man was about to take control of her body and do unspeakable things to the both of them.

"No need to struggle. It will all be over soon." Yukio said as he once again placed the tip of his sword on her chest. He savored the moment before he began to push the point into her flesh. He stopped when a dense mist began to appear all around him.

'The hidden mist jutsu? I haven't felt one this powerful since...it can't be!' Yukio thought as he turned around forgetting about Haku for the moment.

"I come back to the mist and this is what I find? That insane Yagura fighting a teenager and the biggest mistake ever to join the seven swordsmen controlling my girlfriend and about to do the same to my daughter. I see that things are falling apart without me around." Came a familiar voice from the mist.

Yukio leapt back to avoid the slash from the giant zanpatou that Haku ahd dropped earlier in her fight against Chojuro. There was only one man that could wield that blade so swiftly yet hiding his presence in the mist so completely.

Yukio looked up and into the dark eyes of the Demon of the Hidden Mist Zabuza Momochi.

**(End)**

**I REALLY don't want to end here but this chapter is long enough. Next time we get the conclusion of these two massive fights.**

**Can Naruto and Adalinda work together to bring down Yagura? Why is he having such a hard time commanding them I the first place? Can Zabuza force himself to fight against Mei? **

**That is a secret! Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**(Mist forest)**

Yukio jumped back, barley avoiding being split in half by Zabuza's giant blade. Zabuza swiftly slashed horizontally and Yukio was forced to bring his own blade up to block. However, he was unable to handle the force Zabuza's attack had behind it and was sent skidding across the ground.

Zabuza had been completely controlling their fight for several reasons. He was a fresh fighter with no damage slowing him down. He was at home in the dense mist that he had created. Most importantly though, he was pissed!

Zabuza's disdain for Yukio was only superseded by his hatred for Kisame. He felt that they were the two biggest mistakes to ever be allowed in the seven swordsmen of the mist. While their abilities as ninja were without question, they had no honor. Kisame had killed a squad of mist ninja on one mission because he felt that they would be captured and reveal information. Instead of fighting with his comrades to help them escape, he took the easy way out and slaughtered them all to protect information and then ran away. He then went on to kill his master and take the legendary blade Samehada.

Zabuza's hatred for Yukio was much more personal though. He hated Kisame on his principal as a mist ninja. He hated Yukio because of he considered the man to be nothing but a leech. He was assigned to the seven swordsmen by Yagura and truthfully, not even Kisame had liked the green haired man. Yukio took pleasure in controlling his targets and making them do disgraceful things. Even Kisame had enough respect for his enemies to kill them once they were beaten. Yukio would enjoy controlling them for days before putting them out of their misery.

Also, Zabuza didn't like the man for the way he always seemed to lust after Mei. That she was the most powerful jonin under Yagura and probably the only woman that could go toe to toe with the members of the swordsmen instantly grabbed Yukio's attention. She was the only female ninja that he couldn't defeat in combat and control. Yukio was also known to control fellow mist kunoichi when he was bored. That he couldn't control Mei didn't sit well with the deranged man. Zabuza had to physically restrain himself to bisecting the man every time he looked at Mei.

Zabuza looked on as Yukio got to his feet with a snarl on his face. He obviously didn't like the fact that he was now faced with a fellow mist swordsman of the mist, one that was well versed in the silent killing method and also the one that was looking at him with murder in his eyes.

"You think I'm afraid of you Zabuza? I fear no one not even a fellow member of the seven swordsmen. You saw what I did to that weakling Chojuro? I'll make you my puppet as well and then you can stand and watch as I have all the fun I want with Mei-chan and her daughter." Yukio said with a sick sneer, trying to goad Zabuza into a rash action.

Zabuza said nothing. He simply stepped back and disappeared into the mist. Yukio growled in anger as he ducked swiftly and just avoided having his head removed from his shoulders. He jumped back quickly and unleashed a water jutsu. However, the attack hit nothing but air and Yukio was forced to move once again to avoid the blade coming at him. This time he wasn't fast enough and took a significant cut across his chest. The wound wasn't terribly deep but it was definitely going to slow him down.

"You talk far too much Yukio." Zabuza's voice came from behind him. Yukio turned and struck with his blade swiftly. He was shocked when Zabuza grabbed his wrist in an iron grip, the point of his blade an inch away from Zabuza's face.

"Mei!" Yukio suddenly shouted. Zabuza released the man and leapt back into the mist to avoid the kick from his possessed lover. Yukio smiled once again and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

"Running away again Zabuza? I now have pretty little Mei under my control, and I can do anything I want with her." Yukio said as he ran his tongue across Mei's cheek. He was a bit disappointed when he got no reaction from the Demon of the Mist and decided to force his hand.

"Zabuza, if you do not take down this fog immediately then I will order Mei to kill herself. Mei be a dear and hold a kunai to your throat." He said as he held out the knife. Mei took the weapon and mechanically placed it to her neck.

"One chance Zabuza!" Yukio shouted. He didn't want to lose his little toy but he wouldn't be able to enjoy her if he was dead and Zabuza had all the advantages at the moment. Yukio was hoping that the once cold hearted ninja had been softened by his love for the red haired woman.

Yukio smirked in victory as the mist dissipated and Zabuza was revealed. Yukio actually took a step back in fear from the sheer hatred radiating from the man's eyes. The only parts of his face visible easily expressed the level in which he despised the deranged man.

"What a mean look. Do you want me dead that badly Zabuza? I'm sure you do, however, you are too weak to act on it because of her isn't that right. I still can't believe that the powerful, respected, and feared Demon of the Mist would fall for a woman and allow his enemies to find a chink in his armor. You should have listened to Yagura-sama when he told us that to love anyone other than yourself was a road to death. I care nothing for this woman or any other that I have had in the past or will have in the future. They are nothing but temporary entertainment until I grow bored with them. This way, none of them have any control over me." Yukio said as his expression grew serious. He was a bit unnerved that Zabuza's expression hadn't changed during his little speech. It actually angered him that Zabuza still believed that he had the advantage in this fight. He could feel the judgmental stare from the swordsman and decided to erase it from his face.

"Mei, kill Zabuza."

**(Ocean)**

Naruto could only look on in wonder as Yagura resurfaced from the water. The giant turtle's body was riddled with wounds. Adalinda didn't take kindly to being insulted and she was taking her anger out on the three tailed demon.

"**You will not defeat me!**" He shouted angrily as he opened his mouth and numerous, smaller clones of the demon leapt into the water and began to swim towards Adalinda. The giant dragon made no move to dodge them as she didn't think them a real threat. This was a mistake as one jumped on her body and instantly exploded into a green acid. Adalinda roared out in more anger than pain as she swiftly moved away from the many clones coming for her.

"**Shadow Clones Jutsu!**" Naruto shouted as he created as many clones as he safely could and sent them at the multitude of demon acid clones. The smaller turtles were still many time larger than Naruto's clones, but that was fine with the blond chunin. As one clones slammed into a demon clone, it exploded causing the turtle to explode in a shower of acid. The ocean surface was soon covered in numerous explosions. The explosions obscured visibility for a moment and when it cleared Yagura was no way to be found.

"**Not bad for a brat.**" Adalinda muttered softly at watching Naruto's attack. Naruto couldn't help but smirk at hearing that.

However, they were taken by surprise when there was an explosion of water from behind them. Adalinda turned and launched another hardened ball of water. They were shocked to see that it was only one of the tails of the demon.

'**A trick!**' Adalinda thought as she felt the remaining two tails wrap around her from under the water. She was far too massive for the tails to lift her into the air but they were doing a good job of holding her in place. Yagura's giant form surfaced and he already was forming a giant black ball of condensed demonic chakra. At such a close range it was sure to do major damage.

"**Die!**" The former mist kage shouted as the black ball of energy tripled in size.

"**Dragon Strike!**" Naruto shouted as he unleashed the golden shaped blast directly into the demon's face. It wasn't an attack that hurt so much as it distracted the demon enough that he loosened the hold on Adalinda. She instantly dove under the water and out of the way of the blast of chakra that flew off into the distance and caused a shockwave to spread across the ocean from the power behind the attack.

Adalinda was swimming under the demon and wincing. She hadn't escaped completely unscathed as the blast clipped her back just enough to scorch off some of her scales and some of the bony ridge that spanned her back. Irritated she immediately went on the offensive.

She shot up and wrapped around Yagura's body. He began to flail and tried to shake her off but it was useless as her entire body might as well have been one giant muscle. Yagura swiftly retracted his head into his shell lest the giant dragon sink her teeth into his throat. Nonetheless, she began to apply pressure to the demon and was overjoyed to hear the cracking of its shell. Yagura wasn't going to remain trapped though and began to use his free tail to slam into Adalinda's body.

It didn't really hurt but it was enough of a distraction to cause her to loosen her hold enough for Yagura to escape. Adalinda, wasn't about to allow him to get away so easy and swung her tail, slamming the demon in the back and sending him down into the depths below.

"Did you get him?" Naruto asked after a few minutes without Yagura making a reappearance.

Adalinda once again ignored him as she looked off into the distance. She wasn't surprised that he couldn't feel what was coming. The very ocean was her servant and it told her what was about to take place. She was slightly surprised that he would use such a desperate technique.

'**Then again what can really be expected from trash such as him**' Adalinda thought as a rumbling was being felt from the ocean. All waves suddenly stopped and Naruto could have sworn that he heard the sound of a train coming for them.

"What is that?" Naruto questioned as he looked out into the distance. He felt ice water flow down his spine at the sight of a wall of water, roughly one hundred feet tall coming for them in the distance. The three tailed demon's body could be seen at the top of this monstrous wave and Naruto had a sinking suspicion that this was his ultimate technique.

'Even if we were to dodge, a wave of that size would kill anything on the island.' Naruto thought darkly as he tried to come up with anyway that could save them.

"**Hold on**." Adalinda said simply as she opened her mouth and the water around them began to swirl around her body. Adalinda closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Naruto looked on as a column of water shot up into the sky, surrounding them both. He was about to yell at her about the safety of everyone on the island, until he saw the column beginning to expand.

The tidal wave bore down on them just as Adalinda was able to expand her water defense to cover the island. Naruto held for with all of his might as the two attacks battled for dominance right in front of him. Adalinda, not at all afraid, looked around and spotted her target. She shot out a beam of divine chakra through the opposing water attacks and hit Yagura dead on.

The blast took the demon completely by surprise and he was sent crashing back into the ocean. As he lost his concentration so did the giant wave meant to destroy not only Naruto and Adalinda but the entire island begin to die down until it ended all together.

Not wanting to allow him any time to prepare himself, Adalinda dove under the water. She also noticed that Naruto had remained on her back the whole time. She could tell that he was low on chakra and using that last attack he had used to save her from Yagura's chakra ball had taken most of his remaining chakra. That he saved her once again from taking significant damage both amused and irked her.

She shook off her thoughts as she came under Yagura's body and gave a dark smirk. It was time to end this game. Her jewel glowed a bright blue and the sea green ridge on her back began to glow as well. She knew that Yagura would sense her presence momentarily but it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"**Take this you scum. Time for you to remember just how inferior you are!**" She roared as a massive ball of water grew in front of her and shot up towards the vulnerable underbelly of Yagura. The giant demon had no idea what hit him and it was literally sent flying into the air from the powerful attack.

Adalinda quickly resurfaced, giving Naruto some much needed air, and looked up to the now falling body of Yagura. It appeared that he was still mostly conscious as he was trying to right himself in the air before hitting the water.

"**Now that simply won't due. Dragon's Lance!**" Adalinda muttered to herself as she brought her tail to bear. At the end of it was a jagged point that looked wickedly sharp. Water began to swirl around the limb until it seemed to gain an extra few feet of blade. She sent the limb flying towards Yagura. The former mist shinobi was wise enough to retreat into his shell for protection. It meant nothing however as her tail pierced the shell with little resistance.

Yagura gave a strained gasp of pain and he was skewered and slammed into the water blow. He didn't surface for a while and a dark pool of blood began to appear in the water.

"Is he dead?" Naruto asked in a bit of shock. The sheer callousness of her last attack had shaken him.

Adalinda didn't respond but she did turn swiftly and jab with her tail behind her. Naruto turned and saw that the water lance had struck the three tailed demon right in the chest. It had been trying to circle around for one last strike but Adalinda had seen it coming and responded accordingly.

"**S-so powerful.**" He uttered in agony as the large chakra body began to break down and the broken and bloody form of Yagura fell to the water's surface.

"**And now the finale.**" Adalinda said as she turned to the floating body and opened her mouth to unleash another blast of water. She halted for a moment when Naruto jumped off of her head and landed in front of the still form of Yagura.

"That's enough!" Naruto shouted in anger. She had already won. There was no reason to continue the battle.

"**Stand aside boy. I already told you that his fate was sealed the moment that he dared to not only attack me but to insult my power. Victors do not stand beside their defeated opponent.**" She said as she continued to charge her attack.

"You've already won. You've beaten him within an inch of his life and he's no threat to anyone. Stand down." Naruto said.

"**Do you presume to order me boy? You forget yourself once again. He has not yet felt my full wrath for his earlier transgressions and I will do what I please with him. Stand aside or fall with him!**" She snarled as her water attack began to increase in size.

"There's no reason to continue. He's been beaten and now should be taken by the mist forces for the crimes he's committed." Naruto said.

"**After what he's done they'll simply execute him or place him in prison. What if he escapes? Are you prepared to allow that to happen? Killing him now takes away that possibility. It would be very easy as well.**"Adalinda said curiously as her attack began to shrink.

"I am. If he does somehow escape then I'll do what needs to be done. However, to kill him in cold blood for no other reason than that it is the easier choice is unacceptable to me." Naruto said as he stared into her eyes.

"**Interesting, however it is not unacceptable to me.**" She snarled as her attack grew in power and launched towards Naruto and the downed Yagura.

**(Mist forest)**

Zabuza cursed silently as he avoided Mei's assault. The possessed mist leader was nowhere near at full strength and to be truthful, Zabuza had seen numerous times where he could have killed her with a swift blow. Had she been in control of herself she would have never fought so sloppily. However, he refused to actually harm her anymore than she already was and the only thing this fight was doing was making him hate Yukio even more. Zabuza backhanded Mei and sent her to the ground and turned his attention to Yukio. Earlier he had only sought to slowly kill the green haired man but the time for games was over. He was going to finish this quickly.

Yukio brought his blade up and quickly learned that he did not possess the strength to challenge Zabuza in terms of pure power. Yukio felt his blade shudder from the amount of force being placed on it. Yukio was sent to his knees trying to keep the giant blade away from his head. Zabuza broke off his attack to avoid taking a blow to the spine from Mei. He rolled on the ground, making a few memorized hand signs, and leapt into the newly formed mist he had created.

"Come out now Zabuza! I refuse to allow you to play hide and seek with me! Reveal yourself or she will die here!" Yukio shouted and he placed his blade on Mei's throat.

Zabuza once again revealed himself and Yukio could only laugh at how easy it was to control the supposedly unstoppable "Demon of the Hidden Mist". Deciding to press his advantage he ordered Zabuza to throw his blade away. Zabuza refused until Yukio began to drag his blade along Mei's throat. Zabuza swiftly tossed his blade into the mist and ordered Yukio to stop. The jade eyed man ceased his attack and order Mei to attack Zabuza while he was order to remain where he stood.

"If you move Zabuza then I will order her to slit her own throat!" He shouted as Mei grew ever closer to Zabuza. Zabuza grabbed her only good arm, stopping her kunai from piercing his heart. He used his reaming hand to strike her on the back of the neck. Mei went limp from the blow and Zabuza smirked as he looked into Yukio's eyes.

"That was your last mistake Yukio, Haku!" Zabuza shouted as his daughter appeared by his side. She was not in good shape and wouldn't be of much use against Yukio, but that wasn't the reason he called her.

"Look after your mother. Yukio is mine to kill." Zabuza said as he handed the unconscious Mei to Haku. They turned to see Yukio had already left. Zabuza's grin was truly demonic as he rushed into the mist to find his prey.

'Run little man. Run before the demon catches you!' Zabuza thought darkly as he ran.

Yukio cursed his luck while he ran through the mist. He couldn't believe that he had made such an error. He had mistakenly thought that Zabuza would be nothing without his blade. This line of judgment came about as Yukio himself was dependant on his blade to the point that he couldn't fight without it.

Zabuza had been taught by their master to never rely on one thing in a battle for when it was taken away, it would lead to death. Zabuza's sword didn't have a special ability like the other six blades. When it was presented to the demon of the mist many were surprised that he would receive what was considered to be the weakest of the seven swords available. However, Zabuza's master took him aside and revealed that what made his sword special was the very fact that it had no ability to speak of. Thus Zabuza would never fall prey to relying on the power of his sword like so many of the other swordsmen would. He had to rely on his own abilities, resolve, and tenacity to overcome any obstacle. This made him the most complete ninja of the seven swordsmen with the exception of only Kisame.

Yukio stopped in his tracks when the mist around him grew so thick that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He growled as he realized that Zabuza had caught up. Zabuza had not taken any damage so far and was at full strength. Yukio was injured and very low on chakra. There was no way that he would win this battle by himself. He couldn't use Mei any longer and Chojuro was captured as well. He could only hope that Zabuza slipped up and he could use his blade to control him. With Zabuza under his control he would be unstoppable.

"Come out Zabuza and fight me like a man! Didn't you say I had no honor? Well I am challenging you to a fair fight right now! Show yourself and we will settle this like true men should!" Yukio's voiced echoed into the still mist. There was no sound, it was completely silent. Suddenly a low, dark chuckling began to resonate around Yukio.

"There are no agreements between demons and men. Prepare to die." Was the coldly spoken response he was given.

Yukio created three water clones and all stood back to back. They weren't about to allow Zabuza to intimidate them. Yukio knew about the silent killing technique and even though Zabuza was the best at it, Yukio knew what to expect. Strike at one of the eight deadly spots, whichever one was the most convenient at the time. With having all the clones guarding his back, he only had to worry about Zabuza coming from in front of him thus taking away the element of surprise.

He was sadly mistaken.

A sound came from the mist, one that Yukio didn't recognize until he saw a faint blur coming towards him. He swiftly jumped, barely avoiding having his legs taken off by the large spinning blade of Zabuza. The clones weren't so lucky and were all cut in half. The water used to create the clones began to swirl until it took on the shape of a dragon and slammed into the surprised Yukio sending him flying into the sky. Yukio stuck to a tree and stood on a branch coughing up blood. That attack had caught him completely unawares and had cracked a rib or two. Considering that he'd already had one cracked earlier by Haku, he was having a very hard time trying to breathe. He couldn't stop wheezing and he knew that Zabuza could hear it from a mile away and was planning on ending the battle.

He was proven correct when Zabuza silently appeared on the branch beside him. Yukio gave a cry of surprise as he jumped down to another branch. Zabuza suddenly appeared on this branch as well. Yukio cursed the demon of the mist and jumped towards the ground. He turned behind him to see if any of the obvious water clones were following him. He then felt agony explode from his shoulder and looked on stunned as the arm holding his blade separated from his body. He looked down and saw Zabuza standing calmly with his blade extended.

The former mist swordsman had taken advantage of Yukio's distracted mood and removed his only threat. The clones were never going to attack, they had simply been there to herd Yukio towards the real Zabuza. Zabuza looked on as Yukio landed on the ground in a heap. His shoulder was bleeding profusely and it wouldn't be long before he died of blood loss. Zabuza allowed the mist to lift and looked as Mei and Haku stumbled over to him. Mei walked up to Zabuza and promptly punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

"What was that for?" Zabuza said angrily as she stood to his feet.

"That was for leaving me behind and never sending word that you were okay! That was also for knocking me out before." Mei said as she got in his face and began to yell back at him. Zabuza was going to retort back when Mei suddenly pulled down his wrappings and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"And that was for coming back and save me and the mist people." Mei said with a smirk as she then began to whisper things in his ear about what was going to happen that night between them that made even the Demon of the Mist blush. Mei then turned her attention to the fading Yukio and walked towards him. She asked Haku to freeze his stump to stop him from bleeding out. He would soon die of hypothermia but that was fine as she wasn't planning on allowing him to live that long. She grabbed him around his throat and the smile on her face sent a chill down the crazed ninja's spine.

"You always wanted what you couldn't have didn't you Yukio. I was and never will be yours but allow me to give you a parting gift." She said as she pressed her lips to his. Haku was stunned, though Zabuza only smiled as he knew already what she was doing. Yukio's eyes went from surprised to horrified as he struggled with the woman. His skin began to wither and his body started to shrivel before Mei released the kiss and a smile not unlike one normally found on Zabuza's face was spread across her face.

"You should be careful what you wish for Yukio. Burn in hell." She said as she dropped the withered husk and then spat a high powered glob of lava at his feet. The lava began to slowly move towards the dying man and spread over his feet first. Yukio didn't even have the ability to scream as the lava slowly crept up his form until nothing remained.

Haku still looked confused about the earlier kiss until Zabuza explained what it was. When they had been sent on missions under Yagura, there were many missions that required Mei to use her beauty to get close to a target. She would get them alone and a single kiss would seal their fate. She would send her acid breath into the victim's body and normally she would use it to travel down and melt the victim's heart or some other major organ. Then she would simply slip away and the enemy would never know what killed their comrade. Mei had gone a bit overboard with Yukio and sent the acid to destroy everything but the organs. Muscle, tendons and everything else were attacked, hence his withered look.

"Let's go home." Mei said cheerfully as she leapt into Zabuza's body and wrapped her arm around his neck. Zabuza looked at the woman hanging on his neck and was about to tell her to get off when she sent him a look that told him that he had better rethink that suggestion. He sighed and held her bridal style and began to walk back to the village. Haku picked up Zabuza's sword and happily walked behind her parents. Their little family was finally back together after years of separation.

**(Ocean)**

Adalinda was surprised to see her attack was intercepted by a white beam that turned the ball of water into solid ice that was smashed by a long tail. Adalinda growled when she saw her sister Tetsyua beside Naruto. She hadn't noticed her younger sister summoning herself and it looked like Naruto was just as surprised by the ice dragon's appearance.

"**Tetsuya what do you think you're doing? Stand aside as I finish this battle.**" Adalinda commanded her younger sibling.

"**I will not sister. This is wrong! You have already won. Allow Naruto to deal with the defeated container.**" The snow white dragon asked her larger sister.

"**Don't forget your place Tetsuya. I am your superior and you will obey me.**" Adalinda said in a low tone that held a very real threat.

"**And if I don't? Will you attack me like Drac.**" Tetsuya said with a growl of her own. She respected her sister but she would not be threatened by anyone!

"**Why do you both protect the boy? He is but a lowly human.**" Adalinda said as she stared at her sister.

"**Because he is special**."

Both dragons turned as a red flash appeared from the sword and Drac, wounded as he was, appeared to fly beside Tetsuya. He looked better than he had before he left but his body was still littered with wounds.

"**You shouldn't be out here brother. You still have a lot of healing to do.**" Adalinda said in a tone that was both disapproving as well as concerned. She may have been tough but she was not heartless towards her family.

"**And you need to get over yourself sister!**" Drac spat back, not wanting her pity nor offering his thanks for her saving him.

"**Naruto saved your life and kept your from injury during this battle sister. That wound on your back tells the tale. Without Naruto you would either be severely injured or laying at the bottom of the ocean as fish food.**" Drac said with a snarl. He knew that he had overstepped himself with that statement and the shock from Tetsuya and the way that Adalinda seemed to freeze for a moment showed just how grievous of an error that was.

"**Be thankful that you are injured already little brother. Otherwise I would beat you within an inch of your life.**" She hissed.

"**Leave Adalinda, you are no longer needed here. You will not attack the three tails container and you certainly won't attack our summoner as long as I live.**" Drac said sadly. Tetsuya floated beside him showing where her allegiance lay.

Adalinda couldn't believe what she was seeing. Both of her younger siblings were standing up for the young ninja. It was true that he had gained some of her respect by saving her life and had actually gained even more by never faltering before her, even when she sent an attack his way. It was very easy for humans to go back on their word and she had seen it enough times to actually expect it from them. That he would risk injury and death for an enemy was both shocking and impressive.

Her attack wouldn't have killed Naruto but it would have certainly injured him. It was something of a test as well as a threat. It was to see if he would actually stand by his word and also was meant to tell him to never stand between her and what she had set her mind on doing. That he would stand against her and that her brother and sister back him up was a bit surprising. She was also a bit hurt that they would stand by him rather than her. Maybe there was more to the human than she gave him credit for. She was also surprised when Naruto walked from behind Drac and Tetsuya.

"You accomplished what you set out to do. Yagura is no threat to anyone right now and I'll see to it that it stays that way. I would think that a divine being such as yourself would be above petty vengeance just because someone insulted you. If I had your mentality then I would have turned into the demon those villagers always said that I was when I was little, but I rose above that. I am better than that and better than them. Also, if you think the way they do then I am better than you as well." Naruto said calmly.

"**What did you just say boy?**" Adalinda roared in a way that made even Drac and Tetsuya flinch.

"You heard me the first time. You think you're better than everyone around you just because of what you are. That's a load of crap. It's not your lineage that defines you but your own actions. To think otherwise is petty and foolish. I knew a certain person who thought the same way as you. He was an Uchiha and he should still be rotting at the bottom of the ocean." Naruto said simply.

"**Is that a threat?**" Adalinda asked darkly as she brought her head down to stare into Naruto's own. Drac and Tetsuya prepared themselves in case their sister lost her cool and attacked Naruto.

"Not at all. I'm just letting you know that to underestimate any enemy, especially due to thoughts of superiority is a good way to end up dead. I would have thought you figured that out when Yagura almost blasted you with that ball of energy." Naruto said simply as he turned and went to pick up Yagura's unconscious form.

Adalinda was completely dumbfounded. This lowly human had not only stated that he was a better person than her but he had also hinted that he would kill her if she were to attack him. She was so surprised that she didn't even really notice the disrespect he gave her by showing her back to her. She wasn't about to attack with Drac and Tetsuya so close to him, defending him from her. It also occurred to her that this was his test for her. If she were so easily offended and tried to attack him than she would only have proven his point. She actually chuckled as she shook her head.

"**You've got guts kid. I'll give you that. However, your idealistic mindset will probably get you killed one day.**" She said as Drac and Tetsuya relaxed at her tone.

"Maybe but it's better than the alternative. I refuse to conform to the norms of the world. I will make my own path by own way." He said as he turned his head to stare into his her eyes. He picked up Yagura and walked towards the beach. The dragons looked at one another for a moment before Adalinda decided to make her displeasure known.

"**Don't interfere again, either of you.**" She said sharply as she vanished in a flash of light. Tetsuya turned to her brother.

"**Well, that went better than I thought.**" She said jokingly. The glare given to her by Drac showed her that there was still much to be settled between them.

"**Don't joke. You are partially responsible for this. Had you simply agreed to help Naruto then this wouldn't have happened. That you would claim that it wasn't interesting enough for you suggests that you think along the same lines as Adalinda and believe yourself to be better than Naruto. I have lost respect for you sister, a lot of respect.**" He said.

"**Drac..**"

"**Save it! I am not in the mood. If we do not stand beside him then we will have failed in our mission to protect this world and then we will be nothing but a group of self satisfying, pompous, and arrogant creatures that allowed the world to turn to darkness because we couldn't make ourselves work with a **_**lowly**_** human. Naruto is better than all of us and until you can accept that then you and the others are no siblings of mine!**" He snarled as he disappeared in a flash of gold. Tetsuya remained in the air thinking for a long time before she too vanished.

Things were going to be tense at home for a long time with the dragons.

**(Mist village)**

Things had calmed down in the mist village with the death of Yukio and the capture of Yagura. Everyone was gazing at Naruto in wonder with his defeat of Yagura. They couldn't conceive that such a young ninja could take down the tyrant. It went without saying that the treaty was going to be widely accepted by everyone. Zabuza was also well received by everyone that remembered that he was the one that tried to end Yagura's reign of terror. The prison had been recaptured and the mist forces respect for all of the konoha shinobi was very high from the assistance of Shino.

Naruto and Hinata were celebrating with the rest of the village for the capture of Yagura and the return of one of the seven swordsmen. They walked hand in hand down the street as people smiled at them and in some cases bowed to the duo. Hinata's aura relaxed all that came close to her and Naruto's fame as the captor of the deranged Yagura turned everyone that met them into an instant fan. Naruto had actually got a few requests for autographs. He had smiled at this, though he was a bit upset that his own village still didn't respect him as much as the people of the mist. He shrugged with a sigh. He still prayed that the day would come when they would let go of their distrustful thoughts towards him. Hinata tightened her grip on his hand and he turned to her. She had sensed what had been bothering him and just the sight of her face was enough to brighten his mood. She was his personal angel from Kami. He couldn't wait to get her back to Konoha so they could go on another date.

"This place is nice, but I kind of miss home." He said as he watched a few children run around playing.

"As do I. Still it is nice to see them finally smiling again. They have finally broken out of the oppression of Yagura and can look forward to the future and it's all due to you Naruto-kun." She said as she gave him a kiss on the check. Naruto blushed slightly as he wrapped her in a hug and captured her lips in a heated kiss of his own.

"I'm nothing without you Hinata-chan. Taking on a group of ex-anbu alone. There are plenty of people that are grateful to you as well. I've seen a few men that can't seem to keep their eyes to themselves." Naruto said as he broke the kiss.

"I've only got eyes for one man, Naruto-kun." She said with a sweet smile.

"Really, anyone I know?" He asked with a grin that lit up his eyes. She began to laugh and he loved making her laugh. Her face would brighten with glee and her eyes would shine with mirth. It made her all the more beautiful to him and her smile warmed him considerably.

"**You should stop being a coward and bed the woman.**"

'Shut up Kyuubi!' Naruto mentally shouted to his tenant. Ever since Naruto had hit puberty, the fox thought it was his duty to get him laid. After several, rather violent, outburst when he suggested different women, Kyuubi had decided to just constantly pester him about sleeping with Hinata.

"**We both know you want it kit and she does as well. I don't see a problem.**" The fox commented with a smile. It was always enjoyable messing with his container.

'We both agreed to wait.' Naruto said in finality.

"**Spoilsport**." The fox commented with a snort as he retracted the link between them.

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto looked down to see Hinata with a confused look on her face. He thought it made her look incredibly cute and couldn't help letting out a small chuckle.

"Sorry Hinata-chan. Stupid fur ball doesn't know how to keep his opinions to himself." Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata smiled warmly as she placed her hand on his back and slowly rubbed it as her markings began to glow slightly. Naruto knew what she was doing and allowed himself to enjoy it. Hinata had such a control over her angelic powers that she was able to send a minute amount into his system to relax him completely. If she ever got tired of being a ninja, she could make a killing as a masseuse. He closed his eyes and felt the warm feeling expanded from his back to all parts of his body. He pulled her deeper into his embrace and enjoyed a few moments of simply being with her. For a few minutes, everything around them melted away.

Shino smiled as he watched his teammates take a moment to finally relax. They had been run ragged for the last few weeks with missions and this one was one of the more difficult and stressful. Shino turned as he felt Haku's distress through his insects. She had told them all that she was going somewhere and would lie to be alone for a little while. Shino hadn't like it but nonetheless respected her decision, for all of two minutes. He tilted his head to the side and he listened to his insects on her location.

Haku was standing on a hill looking down at a single house in the distance. It was an old house that hadn't been lived in for years. What made it unique was that ice was jutting from every window and door. This was the house she had lived in for years before her father had tried to kill her. She hadn't returned here after she left. She had banished the place from her memory, not wanting to remember the painful experiences held in the small wood house. She wasn't sure what had brought her back after all these years, but she was pretty sure it had to do with closure. She couldn't ignore her past anymore. She had to face her past demons. She wasn't sure that she could do it alone though. She smiled when she felt her insect beginning to buzz.

"Shino-kun." She said softly as he appeared beside her.

Shino looked down at the house and then back to her. She nodded at his unspoken question and grabbed his hand as she shakily walked forward. Shino walked beside her, sending her his support and comfort. They were soon in front of the door, an ice spike pointing towards them. Haku said nothing as she mentally commanded the ice to recede. The ice in the house suddenly began to retract until it disappeared completely. Haku wasn't sure that she could actually go inside but Shino released her hand and stood behind her as he wrapped his arms around her. She took a deep breath and nodded that she was ready. Shino let her go and grabbed her hand again as she led him inside.

The house was small so there wasn't much to see but eventually she led him to the kitchen, the site where her whole world had come to an end. Haku closed her eyes and gathered her strength as she walked into the room. She felt tears in her eyes when she saw the dead bodies of her father and the men that had come with him. It seemed that her ice had actually preserved them for all these years. Shino wrapped his arms around her one again and his insects began to buzz loudly. She looked into his face and could see that he was glaring at the crumpled forms of the men, imagining the pain they had caused her.

She could still remember her father looking at her in despair as the villagers behind him ordered her death. He had just killed her mother in front of her and was now turning to her to finish the job. She had subconsciously ordered her ice to protect her and it had by sending a large spike of ice directly through his chest. The other villagers cried out in alarm and rushed to kill the girl, only to fall victim to her ice as well. Haku looked and was surprised to see Shino's insects leaving his body and swirling around the corpses. They began to levitate them and removed them from the house. Shino ordered a few flesh eating insects to dispose of them, he wasn't going to allow Haku to see this take place, though he did take joy in ridding the world of the last trace of pain.

He looked to Haku when she stumbled out of his arms and walked towards another form on the floor that he hadn't noticed as it was being blocked by the table in the room. This body was clearly female and perfectly preserved like the men had been. He could feel recognition blossom in Haku and knelt beside her. Haku had pulled the body into her arms and turned the body over, to gaze upon her birth mother's face. Shino could see that Haku got her features from her mother, her gentle face and dark hair especially.

"My mother." Haku said softly as tears flowed down her face. She still remembered the horrified look on her mother's face when her father and the villagers came for them. She had grabbed Haku and was going to try to hide them when her father kicked the door in and came for them. Her mother protected her as best as she could but swiftly fell from a blow to the head.

"Would you like to bury her Haku?" Shino asked softly as he looked at her. Haku was silent but nodded that she would. Her mother deserved that much.

Sometime later, team eight along with Mei and Zabuza were standing on the hill that overlooked the home. A grave had been dug and Haku's mother was now resting under the earth. They all looked on as Haku said a few words for her mother.

"My mother brought me into this world. She was always loving and had a kind smile for me. She would always tell me that I could be anything that I wanted and that she was proud. When I was sick she was at my side. When I cried she wiped my tears away. I could always talk to her and she would always listen. I will miss her dearly, but I have a feeling that she is still watching over me and that is proud of the person I have become. I will never forget you mother." Haku said as she placed her hand on the ground over the grave and concentrated her chakra. She moved her hand away and a single ice rose adorned her mother's grave. It was infused with her chakra and would never melt. A lasting goodbye to the woman that had brought her into the world and loved her with all of her heart until she had been take so tragically. Shino wrapped his arms around her and lent her his strength and she cried tears of pain and sadness.

Hinata was crying as well as this reminded her of the death and burial of her own mother. She was the single ray of light in the dark and cold Hyuga manor. Naruto held Hinata tightly. He had never known his birth mother, but from everything she had heard from Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Kakashi, she was a kind hearted woman that had also been taken far before her time. Zabuza and Mei looked at one another and their crying adopted daughter and knew how blessed they were to have her.

'You gave your life for your child. Rest well.' Zabuza thought as he looked at the grave site.

'Thank you. You brought Haku into the world and I know her kind nature and good heart came from you. I have always and will continue to raise her as my own. I only pray I can be half the mother you were for her. To give your life for your child is the ultimate gift a parent can give.' Mei thought as she silently thanked the deceased woman.

Haku was still lost in memories. She remembered when her mother would tuck her in at night and give her a kiss on the forehead. She remembered how her mother would tend to her scraps and pains with a kind smile that would always make her feel better. She remembered how her mother would always make great meals, despite their poor living conditions. She would never forget her birth mother and was thankful to Kami that she had had her for as long as she did.

It was a somber atmosphere as the many ninja looked over the grave of the woman that had given them all a great gift, Haku. They looked up when the sun reflected off of the ice rose and caused a beautiful blend of colors to dance across the area. It brought a smile to even Zabuza's face and they all felt a presence among them.

Haku could have sworn that she felt an additional set of arms wrap around her from behind and the same feeling of protection that she felt when she was little spread across her body.

'_I will always be with you Haku-chan_.'

Haku smiled into Shino's chest. It still hurt, but she had a feeling that everything was going to work out.

**(Mist gates)**

"I will return Kaa-san. I will ask to be the Mist representative in the leaf village." Haku said with a smile.

"I wish you would reconsider Haku-chan." Mei said as she tearfully crushed Haku to her chest. She smiled at Haku still calling her mother. After the emotional rollercoaster they had all gone through she thought that Haku would become hesitant to call her that. Haku had simply told her that she was blessed enough to have two mothers.

"To be a representative normally means that you live in the village that you are representing. Some in the mist village may not take too kindly to the fact that a konoha ninja is our representative, despite her relationship with you Mei." Zabuza said. This alarmed both Mei and Haku but he wasn't going to mince words with them.

"Stay Haku-chan."

Everyone turned surprised eyes to Shino. Haku was at a loss for words. Mei and Zabuza were also confused. Naruto was about to loudly protest before Hinata grabbed his arm to stop him.

"S-shino-kun, what are you saying?" Haku asked in a surprised but hurt tone.

"No one should ever be without their family. Also, as Zabuza-san has said, you should live in the village that you represent. Don't worry we will still see each other when you come to the village." Shino said as he walked to her and held her.

"I don't want to leave you." She said softly. Shino smiled as he raised a hand and a number of beautiful butterflies left his sleeve. They all flew around Haku and landed on her.

"I have been breeding these just for you. As long as they are with you we will never be without one another. Also, they are my promise to you that one day, we will be together forever." Shino said with a smile at her awed gaze. She began to cry once again with tears of joy and kissed Shino with all the love she held within her. It was as much an acceptance of his promise/proposal as anything else.

Zabuza and Mei were a bit surprised at the promise. Shino was basically telling Haku that the butterflies were his commitment to marry her one day, no matter what may come. Zabuza may have wanted to say something if he hadn't known the Aburame as well as he had. The boy was willing to die for Haku and had nearly done so on a few occasions. He supposed that he could allow the boy to keep his head…for now. Mei had only recently met Shino but she trusted Haku's decision and wouldn't say anything about it. Besides, her forces at the prison only had good things to say about the young man. He seemed to have that mean streak in him that she, Zabuza and Haku all shared.

Naruto was looking at Hinata in a way that made it plain to see that he was both surprised and happy by Shino's statement as well as contemplating something. Hinata was busy smiling at the engaged couple but could feel Naruto's gaze on her.

"I'll visit as soon and often as I can." Haku promised after she had stopped kissing Shino and began to wipe her tears.

"Please do. I have a feeling that Kaa-san will be eagerly waiting for you." Shino said with a smile.

They didn't want to part but time waits for no man. Haku held him until the last possible moment. The pain of separation was already coming upon her. However, the butterflies soon took flight and began to swirl around her, lifting her mood and sending a feeling of calm to her. Unbeknownst to her, they were releasing pheromones that were especially for her and would always bring a feeling of peace and love upon her.

"I love you Shino-kun." She said happily.

"I love you Haku-chan." Shino said as tears began to fall from his eyes as well. He had long since removed his glasses and had actually handed them to her. She was a bit surprised but held onto them as another memory and promise to see her again.

"Zabuza-san, Mizukage-sama." Shino said with a deep bow as he walked to meet his teammates.

"You okay?" Naruto asked his friend in concern.

"No, but I will be. We will see each other again." Shino said as he walked past them.

Naurto and Hinata looked at one another before they followed behind their friend and teammate. They could feel his sadness but also his joy. Like he said, they would see each other again someday.

**(A few days later)**

Itachi moved in the dead of night to the rendezvous and met up with another cloaked figure.

"Alert Leader-sama that the Kyuubi container has returned. It is time to move on the one tailed beast." He said. The figure nodded and disappeared beneath the earth. Itachi turned and began to return to the village. It was time for the Akatsuki to move and Gaara of the dessert was the first of many to fall.

'Soon Naruto-kun. It will be your turn and I will see whether you are a worthy enough opponent to fight me and the trials that are ahead.' Itachi thought as he reentered the village.

**(end)**

**Here's chapter 5. I would like to dedicate this chapter to the mother of a good friend of mine, Leaf Ranger. She passed recently and left this world to be with the father in Heaven. I never met her but by my knowing her son, I am sure that she was a good and loving woman. Rest in peace ma'am. Also to Leaf Ranger, keep the faith my friend, you will see her again one day and she will always be with you.**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**(Nara compound)**

Temari awoke to the rays of sunshine that was coming through her window. She got out of bed and stretched with a yawn escaping her mouth. She quickly got prepared for the day and also packed her traveling bag. It was time for her to return to the Sand village for a monthly update on things and she wanted to leave early as the journey was at best three days. After getting prepared Temari grabbed her bag and turned to look at her room.

It was still amazing to her that this room was more of a home to her than the one she had at Suna ever since she was a small child. She assumed it was because that house had never really been a home to her. With the passing of her mother, a negligent father, and a mentally unstable brother who would just as soon kill her as speak to her made it a very uncomfortable environment. The Nara compound was the exact opposite. Yoshino and Shikaku had taken to her immediately and not just because their son had strong feelings for her. As Yoshino put it, she was the daughter she never had and had actually encouraged Temari to call her mom whenever she felt like it. Shikaku, though just as lazy if not more so than his son, was a caring and good hearted man and she found herself wishing that these where the people that she had grown up with.

Temari walked quickly through the Nara home in search of a very particular room. She opened the door to her boyfriend's room and snuck inside. Shikamaru hadn't changed that much over the last three years. He had grown taller and was around the same height as she was and he had filled out nicely from the numerous missions as well as the training that she and his mother insisted that he do while in the village. Despite all these things, he was still the laziest person she knew and wouldn't wake up at dawn unless violently forced to. He was still snoring softly in his bed and was laying on his stomach, his bare back presented to her. She knelt down and kissed him on the check before she placed the letter to him and his family on his night stand. There was no need to wake him up and she didn't want the hassle it would take either.

She walked out of the compound but instead of heading towards the exit she found herself walking towards the area that held a few of the prized deer that was one of the most well known things about the clan. She was a bit embarrassed to admit that the first time Shikamaru had brought her out here, she had been a bit wary of approaching the gentle beasts, so much so that she actually gave a small scream when one of the doe came up behind her and began to nuzzle at her, curious about her presence. She had literally leapt into the air and it was the first time that she heard Shikamaru give a full bodied laugh.

That was still one of her more embarrassing moments but she had gotten over it and the doe that startled her seemed to grow attached to the blonde as every time she came over, the doe would walk over and greet her. This time was no different and Temari watched as her "friend" came over to be petted.

"I'm going away for a while so you'll have to find someone else to pet you daily." Temari said with a smirk as the doe lowered her head for Temari to run her hands through the fine fur. The doe began to lick her face and Temari gave a small chuckle at the feeling. She spent a few more minutes with her animal friend before she turned to leave. Temari was walking towards the compound gates when she saw a figure move out of the shadow beside her.

"You know how troublesome it would be if I let you leave without your escort?" Shikamaru said with a yawn. Shikamaru was dressed similarly as when he was still a genin. The only difference was that he now wore his chunin jacket over a long sleeved black shirt. Temari had changed her outfit a bit as she now wore a black battle kimono and had her head band around her forehead. She still carried her giant fan on her back, and Shikamaru could attest to just how skilled she was with the weapon.

"And here I thought you would eventually get tired of having to follow me around all the time. You do realize that I know this village about as well as you do right?" She said with a smirk as he came to stand beside her.

"Yeah, well it's still my job. Orders from the Hokage." He said with a grin of his own.

"And here I thought you got up early just to see me off. Guess I was mistaken." She said as she walked ahead of him, so used to the game they played that she could tell the words that were going to leave his mouth.

"It's troublesome waking up so early." Shikamaru said as he walked up beside her and took her hand in his.

"But it would be even more troublesome not to see me one last time before I stay in Suna for a few weeks." Temari said, finishing his statement for him.

Shikamaru didn't reply as he walked with her through the village. As the representative from Suna, she would live a few weeks in Suna before returning to Konoha. It was also a bit of a hostage type situation between the villages.

They once again had an alliance but they had also had one with Suna when the leaf was betrayed by them during the chunin exams. While Naruto told Tsuande that she could trust the new Kazekage, Gaara himself, the village council still insisted that Temari remain in Konoha for a majority of the time to act as a deterrent form another double cross. It worked out for Temari just fine as she happened to like Konoha better than her own village. That Shikamaru was there and she had a great home to come back to all the time was just icing on the cake.

"See you in a few weeks Shika-kun!" Temari said loudly once they reached the gates. Shikamaru blushed at the attention her loud declaration brought from anyone in the vicinity. She did it for that very purpose. Shikamaru had gotten used to her antics and knew just how to get revenge however.

He kissed her deeply and felt her surprise and happiness. She returned the kiss and enjoyed the feeling of his lips on hers. He also enjoyed the sensation, but his mind was still on revenge. He ran his hands up her sides and felt her shiver from the touch. She was a bit ticklish but that wasn't what he had planned. He broke the kiss and found the spot on her neck that always made her knees weak. Shikamaru kissed and suckled the sensitive skin and heard and felt her moan at the feeling. Her arms around him tightened and she reached for his lips again when he pulled up and stepped out of her arms suddenly. The glazed look on her face cleared and he could tell that his move had been successful by the flush on her face and the darker coloring of her eyes.

Shikamaru always did have more patience and self control than Temari and he felt that allowing her to return to her village a little unsatisfied was a great way to get back at her. She would fume about it for a while and the next time they were together she would of course make him pay, but it was worth it to the shadow user.

"You had better be glad that I need to get going Shikamaru." She said with a look in her eyes that sent a chill down his spine. He wasn't sure whether he was afraid or aroused by the look and that was another reason he enjoyed having her as a girlfriend. She was always able to keep him guessing. She could either kiss him or hit him at any given time.

"I'm sure you'll think of something suitable punishing next time Mari-chan." He said with a grin as she gave him a kiss on his cheek and left. She laughed at the blush that came across his face.

Temari walked down the path with a large smile on her face. She couldn't be happier with her life. She just hoped nothing would ruin it. She suddenly felt an ominous chill run down her spine. She knew something was wrong the moment that Shikamaru's voice sounded from behind her.

"Temari!" He shouted as he appeared by her side and whispered into her ear. She froze and felt true fear grip her heart. Together they raced back towards the Hokage's tower, the grime news still ringing in her ear.

Gaara had been captured by the Akatsuki.

**(Suna)**

Gaara of the desert had always been hated from birth. First by his uncle for taking his mother's life during childbirth, and then by everyone else in the sand village for holding the one tailed demon inside of him. Unlike Naruto, Gaara allowed hatred to rule his life. He decided that if they were going to hate him then he would hate them back and prove to them that he was the demon they believed him to be. Gaara killed any and everyone that came across him to prove his existence. He lived this way for thirteen years of his life.

However, that all changed when he met Naruto Uzumaki. When Gaara first saw him he thought the boy was a bit of a joke. He was always smiling, despite their shared burdens. He didn't hate the villagers that hated him. He actually went so far as to say that he would risk his very life to save them! Gaara couldn't understand this. He couldn't understand fighting for anyone other than himself. He sought to prove that his way of life was better by defeating Naruto.

This did not happen. Gaara couldn't believe the strength that Naruto had been able to unleash against him. Gaara had even told the boy to kill him yet he refused. Naruto was easily the most confusing person that Gaara had ever met. When asked how he was so strong Naruto simply smiled and told him that it was because he had precious people to fight for.

After that defeat, Gaara took a long look at his life. While he was powerful and had the respect from his village, he was alone. Everyone feared him, even his own siblings. He couldn't understand what it meant to have a precious person but he wanted to try. He started with Temari and Kankuro. It was actually a bit more difficult than he first believed. He had threatened their lives countless times and suddenly trying to make up for it was not something he was prepared for.

However, once they noticed the change in him, they swiftly attempted to bring their little brother out of his shell and they began to act somewhat as a family. It slowly built from there and Gaara began to change his ways. The villagers were at first completely distrustful of the supposed change but as the years went by and Gaara continued to prove himself, the younger generations began to warm up to the demon container and actually began to idolize him. Gaara made it his goal to treat everyone in his village as valuable to him and a few months ago he was given the highest position in the village.

Gaara of the desert, the container of the one tailed demon and hated weapon of the sand village was made the Kazekage. Gaara accepted the position with humility and promised to do his best to protect the village. Everyone was quite surprised to find that Gaara was actually quite the leader. He was the most powerful of the sand ninja and also knew how to lead the village as a kage should. He had a few advisors that he trusted to help him and the sand village was slowly returning to the power that it was before the ill-fated attack on the leaf village three years prior. Gaara had the adoration and respect of the entire village and he had finally found something precious to protect with his life.

Then two Akatsuki members came in the dead of night to capture him.

Gaara still could not sleep as the one tailed demon would keep him up, thus he clearly saw the approach of one of the members of the evil organization. The man wore the standard black robe with red clouds and his headband revealed that he at one time was a ninja from the rock village. The man had blonde hair in a pony tail and a grin that revealed that he was probably insane.

Gaara had fought to man above the sand village. Gaara was on his sand cloud and the man was riding on a strange white bird. The battle was seen by the entire village and many shouted encouragement to their leader, but it made no difference. Gaara was defeated by the man's strange use of explosives and captured. The sand ninja used whatever jutsu they could to bring down the bird the man was riding on but it was much too quick and he escaped. The leader of the sand forces, Baki, immediately sent an urgent message to the leaf village. Kankuro had rushed after his brother and had disappeared in the desert. He returned a little while later, poisoned and dying.

They needed help and they needed it now!

**(Hokage's tower)**

Tsunade cursed the Akatsuki's timing. Team eight had only come back from the grueling mission in the mist one week prior and they had yet to completely recover. However, they were the best suited to go on this mission. Not only because of Hinata's and Shino's tracking skills but because Nartuo would literally tear her office apart should she try to stop him from going.

She looked at Temari, who was clutching Shikamaru's hand, though she was keeping her composure. She was deathly afraid for her brother but she was still a ninja and was waiting for Tsunade to make a decision, though if it didn't come soon then Temari would probably race out of the village on her own.

However, she was a sand ninja thus they would need her for the mission. Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief when team eight came through the door. It was obvious that they were still a bit tired from their past mission but they would still perform she was sure.

"Gaara's been captured? What are we waiting for? We need to go now!" Naruto shouted in his usual tone, though there was an undercut of fear in his voice. Gaara was a good friend and they often talked when they had the time about their lives.

"Calm down Naruto." Tsuande said shortly. Naruto instantly shut his mouth. When Tsunade used his full name it meant that she was deathly serious.

"The Kazekage has indeed been captured and Suna has requested our help in getting him back from the Akatsuki. They want the one tailed demon inside of him and if reports are to be believed, once a demon is removed from its container the container will die. Temari will be guiding you all back to the sand village to gather clues and then I want you to retrieve Gaara alive." Tsuande ordered.

"Will it only be us?" Hinata asked curiously.

"No, team ten requests to company them Hokage-sama." Shikamaru said, much to the surprise of most in the room. Shikamaru was always the one to complain about having to do any kind of mission, for him to take the initiative meant that he was quite concerned.

"Very well." Tsuande said as she ordered an anbu to have team ten and Asuma waiting for them at the village gates.

"Also Shizune will be accompanying you. Kankuro was badly poisoned and their medics can't figure out what to do. Shizune is a jonin and will be co-leader with Asuma Sarutobi." Tsunade said. The ninja quickly left her office and she turned in her chair to look at the bright and beautiful day.

'And so it begins.' Tsuande thought as a single cloud in the sky drifted in front of the sun, temporarily blocking the bright rays.

**(Village gates)**

Team eight waited by the gates until they saw team ten arrive with Temari and Shizune in tow. Shizune and Asuma hadn't changed much over the years though they were holding hands as they had been dating for the past three years. Team eight had changed quite a bit though.

Choji now wore a red top with armor on his torso, arms and upper legs. On the front of his chest armor was the symbol for eat. His brown hair had grown much longer and he wore his head band around his forehead, the cloth itself was the same shade of red as his top. He had filled out well and while he was still husky he would probably not be considered fat.

Ino had grown as well. She wore a short purple shirt that left her stomach bare. She also wore an opened purple skirt and a black skirt underneath. Fishnests were now worn on her elbows as well as her knees. She had filled out well and was considered one of the more attractive of the new chunin. Many attempted to woo the young heiress but were turned down. She already had her eyes set on someone and he was the very man standing beside her.

"Are you all prepared? I know that your team just got back from a mission." Asuma said as he looked over team eight with a critical eye. They would be moving fast and hard and while Naruto probably had fully recovered due to the Kyuubi, Hinata and Shino may have still been a bit worn out.

"We are fine. Let us continue." Shino said shortly. Naruto and Hinata silently agreed and Asuma nodded in consent and allowed Temari to take the lead with Shizune behind her. They moved quickly and the team eight swiftly followed with team ten behind them.

'Hang on Gaara. I'm coming.' Naruto thought.

**(Ichiraku Ramen stand)**

Itachi knew when Naruto and his team ran out a few minutes ago that they had gotten word the Gaara had been taken. The speed in which the blond demon container had rushed out was a bit humorous but not unexpected. Naruto was someone who placed friends and family in such high regard that nothing would stand in his way when they were in trouble. He truly embodied the will of fire.

This left Itachi in an interesting position. He felt pride in the young ninja and knew that it was because of people like him that he had betrayed and killed his clan. He believed in the fourth and the previous kages that preached unity and understanding opposed to war and domination. He was proud of his village and the young ninja that were blooming before his eyes. It made it all the more difficult that he was still a part of the organization that wanted to crush that peace and bring forth strife and pain. He had never truly been conflicted by this until on recently.

Itachi shook his head slightly to dispel the thoughts. He had committed himself to this path and he had to deal with the consequences that accompanied it. He shouldered a sack and began to leave. He had to meet up with Kisame. His time in the village was over for now. He and Kisame were to hunt down the four tailed demon by order from the leader.

"Kai-kun."

Itachi closed his eyes and gave a slight sigh as he turned to look at Ayame. She had been his only companion for the last few years. While he had never offered much of anything about himself, she saw fit to divulge much about herself.

She told him about her mother who had passed away. About her dreams to be a ninja but was unable to actually last in the academy. She had decided to help her father with his stand and found that she enjoyed cooking and one day wanted a restaurant of her own. Itachi had calmly listened to it all over the years and offered his own words of advice when he felt appropriate. No matter how much he wanted to sever all ties with her, even he could fall prey to loneliness. He had attempted to keep it purely platonic, yet he could tell that she had feelings towards him and found his own a jumbled mess.

"You're leaving?" Ayame said, breaking him of his thoughts once again. She had a sad expression on her face and Itachi couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He had planned on sneaking out after soon without having to face her.

"I am." He said simply as he turned to leave, not wanting to be held up nor wanting to have to face unfamiliar feelings. He stopped when he felt small hands grip his arm. He turned and stared into her determined yet fearful brown eyes.

"Will you return?" she asked in a shaky tone.

"I do not know." He answered truthfully. He saw her conflicted expression and waited to see what she would do. He knew her well enough to know that should he attempt to leave like before she would simply grab him again. He could have easily broken out of her grasp and they both knew this but she also knew that he wouldn't do that.

Itachi wasn't sure what Ayame was going to do and that was one of the main things that he liked about her. Her unpredictability was a welcome change of pace considering his sharingan had the ability to predict opponent's actions during combat. He felt her release his arm only to wrap her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. Itachi froze a moment before he found his own arms moving around her.

He knew that it wasn't a good idea to get involved with her. He knew that he would only hurt her in the end. He's job was to capture Naruto, someone very close to her. He knew it would tear her apart when he finally did what was commanded of him and deliver Naruto to have the fox removed from him. What right did he have to enjoy this small moment of comfort when he had so much blood on his hands and would have more to come?

"Well if you do return you know where to find me." Ayame said as she pulled back and gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Will you be able to stay out of trouble until then?" Itachi asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"Watch yourself mister. And know that next time I see you I'm going to remove that cowl and finally see your face." Ayame said as her eyes lit up at their usual banter. Itachi inclined his head to her and turned to leave. He knew at that moment that he should not return. To string along her emotions further than he already had would be cruel of him.

He escaped the village undetected and met up with Kisame a few miles in the forest.

"Ready to go Itachi?" The blue skinned man asked.

"Hai." He replied in his usual monotone. Inwardly, however, he felt a bit hollow. He turned to look at the village for the last time. He would stay away from it and the beautiful Ayame from now on. He couldn't bear to see things so beautiful be corrupted by him.

"Did you grow attached to the place?" Kisame asked curiously.

"Don't be foolish. Let us find our prey." Itachi said as he turned and hardened his heart.

"You sure are an interesting one." Kisame said with a chuckle as they disappeared together to find the four tailed demon's container.

**(Konoha's forest)**

The combined teams moved hard and fast until night fall. Naruto wanted to continue on but everyone was tired, even the concerned Temari. As always, it was Hinata who had calmed the energetic blond done enough to rest for the night. She told him that he would be no good to Gaara if he burnt himself out before hand.

As the teams began to set up their tents, Temari went out to look for fire wood. She wasn't all that surprised to find that Shikamaru was following her. He might be lazy, but that really only adhered to things that he didn't consider all that important to him. However, being in a relationship with Temari had somewhat changed him to the point that anything dealing with her was at the top of his list in importance. It was actually even above his desire to sleep and watch the clouds all the time.

'Just like Dad. I'm completely whipped.' Shikamaru thought as he caught up with his girlfriend.

"What do you want?" Temari asked over her shoulder, not even looking at him.

"Don't be troublesome. I just wanted to see how you were doing." He said in his usual bored tone.

"I'm fine, now can you leave me alone?" She said as she turned to him and he could see the anger in her stare.

"We will rescue him Mari-chan." He said, ignoring her last statement as he knew it was a knee jerk reaction so to speak. Temari was a strong, independent, self assured woman and she never wanted to appear weak or helpless. It came about from the way she was raised in the sand village. She was not good with sharing her emotions with anyone and it rankled a bit that Shikamaru could read her so well as to figure out that she was deathly afraid for her brother.

"He's my little brother." She said softly as he laid his hand on her shoulder. Being an only child he really didn't know what it was like to fear for a younger sibling's well being. Still he offered her any comfort that she would need. Logically it wouldn't do to have her repress emotions that could make her dangerously unpredictable, but also he just didn't want to see her in pain.

"You know Naruto. He won't stop until Gaara is safe and sound. He's like a man possessed when protecting those close to him. He also seems to have a way of making the impossible happen." Shikamaru said with a smirk at the thought of his energetic friend.

"I still don't understand where he gets all his energy from." Temari said with a chuckle as well as she wiped her eyes.

"You're not the only one. Come one let's get this done and head back." Shikamaru said as he turned to pick up some wood. He stopped when he felt her hands on his back. He turned and allowed her to embrace him as she silently let out the tears of fear that had consumed her since hearing about Gaara's capture. Shikamaru said nothing, he simply allowed her to know that she wasn't alone.

Back at the camp site, Shizune and Asuma were discussing the best course of action to take. Heading back to Suna was the best bet but it was still two days away, giving them plenty of time to prepare for what was to come.

"I will have to focus my attention on Kankuro-san first as none of their doctors can cure him." Shizune stated to her boyfriend.

"Agreed, he will probably have good intel on who we are facing. Once we get an idea of where they went we'll need some way to track them. I wish we had Kakashi or an Inuzuka to pick up a scent." Asuma answered.

"Let's just hope that we can figure something out. Shino and Hinata will hopefully be able to find some trail and Ino would be a great help in scoping them out without being noticed with her abilities." Shizune said as she looked at the blonde Yamanaka who was sitting with the large Akimichi.

"Then I suggest we hit hard and fast with Naruto and Choji. They're our heavy hitters and with a strong enough assault we might be able to split the two of them apart." He said as he reached for a cigarette. They had come to something of an agreement in regards to his bad habit. She allowed him only one pack a week and she was pushing for less, but knew when to back off of the stubborn Sarutobi.

While the two jonin were bouncing ideas off of one another, Choji and Ino were busy setting up the tents as Naruto and Shino had gone to scout out the area for any potential danger and Hinata had gone to find water. They finished making camp and sat together, awaiting the others' return. Ino settled into Choji's lap and not for the first time marveled at how much the young Akimichi had grown from being a short, chubby kid to the broad shouldered young man that held her. She always felt safe in his big arms and she knew that he certainly didn't object to holding her whenever he could.

Choji pulled out a bag of snacks and began to share them with Ino. She had been able to get across to him that he could eat healthier foods and still use his family's techniques. She had also joined in with him in snacking. She had long since given up the stupid thought of dieting as a ninja. She ate well and worked out and was no longer the skinny girl on the wrong side of unhealthy. She was now in the perfect condition for a female ninja.

"I hope we get there in time. Losing Gaara would hurt a lot of people." Choji said suddenly. Ino looked up at him and knew that his main concern was Shikamaru. The shadow user was his closest friend and he knew that as Shikamaru was dating Temari, anything that hurt her would in fact hurt him. Also, Gaara and Shikamaru actually had a fairly good understanding of one another. The Kazekage had given his sister his blessing to date the shadow user after Gaara had seen what a competent, if lazy, ninja he was.

"Don't worry about it. When's the last time Naruto's team failed in a mission given to them?" Ino said with a smirk, until Choji turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Aside from the one that nearly broke them apart?" Choji asked bluntly seeing Ino stiffen.

"Yeah aside from that one." She said a bit lamely. She couldn't believe she forgot about that.

The rookie chunin had all been shocked when team eight had failed a mission and also the state it left them in. There seemed to be a bit of conflict between Naruto and Shino that was just short of turning into a brawl between the two. That the two of them, who were like brothers to one another, could actually fight one another was shocking to everyone.

Ino was a bit of a gossip girl and desperately wanted to know what had gone wrong. However, a short and almost rude comment from the ever kind Hinata made her drop it instantly. Ino knew that something big had gone down but knew well enough to leave it alone. Still she wasn't the only one who wanted to know what had happened, but so far, none of them were divulging anything. They both stopped talking when Hinata returned with water and Naruto and Shino returned with a few small mammals for dinner. The two male members of team eight seemed to have worked out whatever had come between them and Ino and Choji were content to leave it at that.

Later that night, Naruto suddenly awoke in a cold sweat and was silently cursed the fox within him. While they had come to something of an acceptance of their union, that didn't make the demon a nice being by any stretch. He respected Naruto true but he still enjoyed having fun at the blond's expense like he had just done by giving Naruto a flashback to when he had gone on a rampage and slaughtered the root anbu in Danzo's hidden base.

'**Ha that never gets old! The fear, the blood, the death! I have missed moments like those!**' The fox said with a great deal of pleasure in his voice.

'Glad you're entertained.' Naruto thought darkly at the demon lord. He was still coming to terms with the sheer amount of blood that was on his hands and the number of lives that he had taken that day when he had all but broke mentally and given himself over to his rage and despair at losing Hinata.

'**They got what they deserve. I really don't understand you humans when it comes to guilt. They were your enemy and you handled them appropriately. It actually reminds me a bit of your father.**' The demon said that last comment almost to himself.

'My father? What do you mean?' Naruto asked a bit surprised. The fox admitted that he respected Naruto's father, Minato Naimkaze, a great deal though he still hated the man for sealing him into Naruto. This was however, the first time that Kyuubi had ever really mentioned something about his father that wasn't an insult and it grabbed the young chunin's attention.

However, the fox didn't seem all that eager to divulge anything else and fell silent. Naruto shook his head at the demon in his gut and decided to take his watch early. He knew he wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon with the images of those he had viciously killed still in his head. This wasn't the first time the fox had done this and it wouldn't be the last, though he supposed that he should be grateful that Kyuubi hadn't sent him a dream about Hinata again. The fox could be amazingly creative with the things he sent to Naruto and the last time he had dreamed about Hinata, he had awoken uncomfortable but for an entirely different reason.

'I've got to find a way to block him out of my dreams.' Naruto thought as he dressed and took over the watch from Shino.

'**Good luck with that.**' Was the reply with a deep chuckling from the demon.

Naruto ignored the fox as he walked over to his silent friend. He and Hinata had been a bit concerned for Shino after the last mission. While he seemed to be completely fine, they weren't sure that it wasn't just a front. Allowing Haku to remain in the Mist village couldn't have been an easy choice for him and Naruto was actually surprised that it had even been allowed.

A few of the village councilors were a bit skeptical about allowing a Mist native to be the liaison as they still didn't trust the girl one hundred percent. Also, Haku had had to rejoin the mist forces before Mei's council would allow it to take place so that Haku's allegiance was once again with them.

"Hey Shino, I'll take over for the rest of the night." Naruto said to his best friend.

"Are you certain?" Shino asked simply.

"Yeah, thanks to the fuzz ball I won't be able to sleep for the rest of the night so go ahead and get some rest. How are you doing by the way?" Naruto asked a bit uneasily. He and Shino were never really ones to take about their feelings at least to each other.

"I am fine Naruto. How many times must I tell you?" Shino asked in a bit of an exasperated tone.

"I know how much you relied on Haku, Shino. After that mission…"

"Stop." Shino interrupted sharply and Naruto could hear his insects beginning to buzz.

"I do not wish to talk about that Naruto." Shino said as he seemed to once again regain his composure. Naruto winced as well at the thoughts about that mission.

"I will miss Haku-chan deeply, but we are never truly without one another." Shino said as a blue butterfly flew out of his sleeve and began to fly around him.

"I still can't believe that you proposed with butterflies instead of a ring." Naruto said in a joking fashion.

"I still cannot believe that you haven't asked for Hinata's hand in marriage." Shino replied back.

"We're only sixteen Shino." Naruto said with a faint blush. It was way too soon for him to be thinking about marriage.

"We are ninja Naruto. Our life expectancy is not very high. Do you really want to put something like that off and risk the possibility that something may happen to either you or Hinata before a convenient time comes?" Shino asked as he walked to enter the tent they were sharing.

"If there is one thing I learned from that horrible mission, it is that our lives are very short and this is a hard world. When we find happiness we should grab it immediately and never let go." Shino said in a solemn tone as he entered the tent leaving Naruto a lot to think about.

**(Suna)**

Two days later found the konoha ninja at the entrance to the sand village. The path to the village cut through two high rock formations, meant to act as a first line of defense for the village as any enemy would have to run down the path, and thus be at risk for any sand ninja stationed on the top of the rocky foundations and any sand shinobi in the path itself. However, it was currently covered in fallen rocks that seemed to have broken off of the surrounding walls.

They were able to maneuver around the rubble and headed into the village. Shizune went to the hospital to cure Kankuro while Baki began to relay everything that had occurred. They were all surprised that a single ninja had caused all of the damage and had defeated Gaara by himself. They also learned from an old woman named Chiyo, who was one of the sand's elders, the identity of at least one of the members of the duo.

Kankuro had chased after the two members and found a hulking figure awaiting him he and used his now three special puppets only to watch as one by one they were systematically destroyed by the figure. Kaknuro was poisoned by the man but before he passed out he used his remaining working puppet to cut some of the robe of the man. A symbol on the cloth revealed him to be Sasori of the red sand, a missing ninja from the sand village that had disappeared some time ago.

"So what are we waiting for? We need to go after him, now." Naruto stated with a fire in his eyes.

"You are not even a shinobi from Suna, why do you feel so strongly for Gaara?" Chiyo asked curiously.

"We both share the same burden. Also he is my friend." Naruto said shortly.

"Friends? Allies I can understand but to consider a ninja from another village to be a friend is foolishness boy. There is still a chance that the leaf and sand will one day be on opposing sides. What will you do then when you friends are your enemies?" Chiyo asked with a dismissive snort.

"Enough for now. We need to head out immediately." Asuma said as he saw the flash of anger in Naruto's eyes and knew that an argument was about to begin.

"How will we find them?" Shizune asked as she analyzed the poison that was used on Kankuro. If they came across Sasori then it would be prudent to have an antidote for his poison.

Chiyo narrowed her gaze at Shizune. She was considered the best medic in the entire sand village due to her expertise in poisons and toxins. She had used these skills extensively during the last great ninja war and was considered the most dangerous medic in the war save for one other person, Tsunade Senju the slug princess. During the war, Tsunade would thwart her every move by finding cures for any poison Chiyo could create. As much as it irked her to admit, the blonde haired woman was her superior in medicine and only an apprentice of hers could cure and develop a vaccine for Sasori's poisons so quickly. Even Chiyo herself hadn't been able to save Kankuro.

"Give the cloth to me." Shino said softly. After they handed it over, Shino held it in his palm and soon a beetle crawled out of his sleeve and laid an egg. While the sand shinobi cringed a bit the leaf ninja, long since used to Shino's insects, simply watched. The egg hatched and a small beetle crawled onto the cloth and began to sniff it. The beetle lifted into the air and flew off into the distance.

"Shino what was that?" Naruto asked curiously.

"A very special and rare insect that my family has always known of and finally found a few weeks ago. Once they hatch, they take in a scent and are able to find the owner of it no matter where they are." Shino said simply.

"Awesome! Let's go then." Naruto said excitedly.

"Calm down boy! You need to act more like a ninja! There is a reason that those two attacked when they did. The desert is a dangerous place normally but it's downright deadly when a sand storm comes. There is one brewing as we speak and it will make travel impossible for at least a day. Anyone caught in it will die." Chiyo stated. The leaf ninja froze at the statement. They didn't have a day to waste. There was no telling how long it would take to extract the one tailed demon out of Gaara but they knew that they couldn't waste any time.

"What do we do then?" Temari asked helplessly. No one could answer her and she punched the nearest wall in anger. Shikamaru turned to comfort her, ignoring the snort of dissatisfaction from Chiyo. For Temari, the sand princess to be involved with a shinobi from another village was distasteful to her. Shikamaru thought for a moment before turning to Naruto and asking to have a word with him in private. This surprised everyone and made the sand shinobi suspicious but they complied either way.

"Naruto how many dragons can you summon?" Shikamaru asked getting straight to the point.

"What? Why do you ask?" Naruto wondered.

It really wasn't something he discussed with anyone other than his friends and family. While everyone in the village was somewhat aware that he could summon the legendary creatures, no one in the general public really knew the details of it. Some had even called it a hoax as they hadn't seen Naruto call upon one of them in years. Shikamaru knew that Naruto could summon the dragons but had no idea just how many there were and what their abilities were.

"If your dragons each represent an element then I ask because I would like to know if there is a possibility that the earth dragon, should you have one, can help us navigate through the coming sand storm." Shikamaru asked. Naruto went wide eyed at the statement but could only chuckle. He should have known that the smartest of the chunin in the village would come up with something.

"There is an earth dragon, but we're not really on great speaking terms. However, I will make him listen and he will help us." Naruto said with anger in his voice and eyes. Shikamaru was about to question the wisdom of antagonizing such a great beast, but knew that once Naruto had his mind made up about something then he was going to do it, no matter what. Shikamaru walked back into the room with everyone while Naruto walked outside and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Naruto once again found him in the white void but saw none of the glowing orbs of light that represented the dragons.

"Hey is anyone here?" Naruto called out as he walked around. He couldn't be sure whether or not he was getting anywhere as the white plane in around him seemed to stretch out in all directions.

'**The answer is no boy.**'

Naruto turned and wasn't all that surprised to see a brown orb floating in front of him. Where the others were Naruto didn't know but he had found who he was looking for.

"Any particular reason why?" Naruto asked calmly, trying to be civil.

'**Why would I want to help you find the container of a demon?'** The earth dragon asked in his gravely tone. He was the eldest of all of the dragons and just as surly. He and Naruto had never really spoken before this point. They didn't like each other. It was as simple as that.

"I'm not asking you. Shino is taking care of that. I just need you to take care of a simple sand storm and then you can return. It shouldn't take up too much or your precious time." Naruto said the last part in a sarcastic tone.

'**Are you so pathetic that you can't even get through a simple sand storm by yourself? And you believe that you're worthy of the sword you wield.'** The elder dragon said with a snort.

Naruto was never really known for his patience. Anko had drilled into his skull the importance of keeping one's cool under pressure and not to act impulsively. However, Naruto's limited control over his fiery temper was worn away completely from concern for his friend as well as his disdain for the pompous beast in front of him.

"You are aware that I could just summon you in the middle of the storm right?" Naruto said as he glared at the orb.

'**And you are also aware that I could simply return here immediately and leave you to your fate right?'** the dragon answered back in a bored tone.

'**Will you just help the boy?' **came a loud and annoyed voice. Naruto turned and was a bit shocked to see the blue orb of Adalinda floating towards them.

'**I can't get any rest with the two of you gripping all of the time so if you wouldn't mind big brother just help the boy and get it over with. I don't have the time to hear you squabble and should Tetsuya and Drac get wind of this then we'll never have a moment's peace.'** She said.

'**You're defending the boy Adalinda?'** he questioned in a tone that wasn't all that surprised.

'**I simply want you both to stop all the racket. I can't get any rest.'** She said simply as she floated away.

'Didn't see that coming.' Naruto thought suspiciously.

'**If I do this than I want something in return.' **The earth dragon stated.

"And what is that?" Naruto asked as he returned his attention to the earth dragon.

'**I think I'll keep that secret for now boy. Just know that I will ask for something in return soon enough.'** The earth dragon stated in a nonnegotiable tone.

"Fine, just be ready when I call you." Naruto said as he vanished. Naruto opened his eyes and walked back into the hospital room.

"Alright, we're good to go." Naruto said to his fellow ninja.

"Oh? Would you mind telling us about your plan to get through a sand storm?" Chiyo asked incredulously.

"I'll have my summon handle it." Naruto said simply, much to the surprise of Hinata and Shino. Both of them were well aware of just how weak Naruto's relationship was with the legendary beasts that he had been given the right to weld, though the dragons were not very pleased by it.

"And what summon would that be?" Chiyo pressed.

"You don't have to worry about it baa-chan." Naruto said as he ended the conversation.

"You insolent whelp!" Chiyo seethed at the disrespect Naruto was showing her.

"Enough! We don't have time to argue. We have to mobilize immediately to save Gaara." Temari said, no longer keeping her tongue.

"Then let's go." Asuma said as he lit a cigarette.

Kankuro attempted to stand but was forced to rest by Shizune. Temari was outraged when Baki told her that she couldn't go either. Being one of the more powerful of the sand jonin, she was being ordered to secure the border just in case there was another attack. Chiyo stated that she would accompany the leaf shinobi, partly because she didn't trust them and partly because she felt a bit responsible for the whole thing, though she wouldn't elaborate on her last point.

"Bring him back to me Shikamaru." Temari said to the shadow user as the combined force stood at the Sand's entrance.

"It's troublesome, but I wouldn't dare return without him with me." He said with a smirk.

"We should move quickly. The sandstorm will come soon enough and it would be best to leave as soon as we can." Chiyo stated.

Shino took the lead as he tracked his insect. Naruto and Hinata were directly behind him with Shizune bringing up the rear. Team ten along with Chiyo were a few feet back, just in case there were a series of traps set up by their opponent, they both wouldn't be caught up in it. They traveled hard and fast as long as they could as the sun set and they began to feel the sand under their feet shift dangerously, foretelling the coming of a large and very dangerous sand storm.

These storms, as Chiyo told them, claimed almost as many lives as ninja missions did. They were violent, unpredictable, and could bury a person within moments. Inhaling the sand normally caused death through asphyxiation which was also a large killer. Not even kages were foolish enough to attempt to make it through one of them and they were also one of the biggest reasons that the Sand village had never been invaded. Opposing armies couldn't lay a siege on the village as a sudden storm would wipe out their forces so any invaders could only hope to attack and conquer the village in a day, which had never happened.

"Boy! If you would be so kind as to summon your beast before the storm in completely upon us!" Chiyo yelled over the growing wind and stinging sand. Their visibility was taken away as the swirling sand began to buffet them from all sides.

"Fine, just hold on baa-chan." Naruto shouted back as he grabbed his blade and it began to glow. A bolt of chakra went into the sky, temporarily parting the swirling clouds of sand around them. After a moment, nothing had happened and to the ninjas' surprise, the sand began to climb up their legs and they were afraid they would soon be buried.

"What's going on? Where is it?" Ino shouted in fear as she held her arms around her face to try and stop the sand from getting into her eyes.

Ino was answered when they all felt the ground under their feet began to shake and rumble. Everyone fell to the ground and they all were surprised to find that the sand under them gave way to thick and rough feeling scales.

'What is this?' Chiyo thought as she soon realized that the sand that had been clogging her throat and stinging her eyes had cleared. She could still see the sand swirling around them but it seemed to be avoiding their general area.

"What took you so long?" Naruto shouted. Chiyo looked towards the orange wearing shinobi and was stunned to see him standing on the giant head of what could only be considered a dragon!

'A dragon? Impossible, how could this child have the ability to summon beasts of legend?' Chiyo thought. She had of course heard the rumors that a shinobi of the leaf had summoned a dragon to defeat Gaara but had dismissed it immediately as impossible.

"**I was taking a nap you brat.**" The dragon replied back in a deep and gravelly voice not that different than one would expect from an elderly man. While Chiyo couldn't see much she could at least tell that the dragon was an earthy brown but the skin felt a bit withered and worn. The dragon's face was also weathered and its giant black eyes held a gaze that revealed that this particular beast had been around for a very very long time. Its body had numerous scars and it was obvious that he had been through quite a few battles. The horns on top of its head were chipped and had lost their luster and Chiyo couldn't help but wonder if all the great lore on dragons was a bit over blown.

"Taking a nap? We could have died waiting for you to get off of your lazy scaled butt!" Naruto shouted back. Everyone found the scene of a small human shouting at a giant, deadly beast, quite funny though a bit disconcerting at the same time.

"**Shut your mouth brat. I'm here so just be happy I didn't allow you to die in this tiresome storm. Now sit still and wait. This storm will pass soon enough and then I can go back home.**" The grumpy dragon stated as it opened its mouth for a yawn.

"Excuse me but what is your name sir?" Hinata asked respectably.

"**Call me Tatsuo girl. At least you're more respectable than the brat. You at least seem to be worthy of the power bestowed upon you.**" Tatsuo stated as he turned his large eyes to Hinata.

"Can't you just make the sandstorm stop so that we can be on our way?" Naruto asked, ignoring the jab that the ancient dragon had sent his way. He was at least grateful that the grumpy thing had answered him in the first place.

"**That would take too much of my time and energy.**" The dragon stated with a huff as it settled down once again.

'This thing acts like Shikamaru.' All the leaf ninja thought.

"Oh come on, we really don't have time to waste and you told me that you were going to take care of the storm for me. Are you going back on your word?" Naruto ranted to that earth dragon.

"Naruto it might not be such a good idea to speak that way to a dragon." Ino stated a bit fearfully. While the rookie chunin all knew that Naruto could summon dragons, they had never actually met one up close except for Hinata and Shino. Ino didn't want to see what happened when a dragon was angered, especially considering that it was the only thing between them and death as the sand storm was still raging and there was no sign of it letting up.

"Don't worry so much Ino-chan. I doubt that Naruto is stupid enough to actually make a dragon that he summoned mad enough to try and kill him, I hope." Choji said with a forced smile.

Naruto continued to argue with the great beast while Hinata tried to play the mediator. Shino was silent as he was focused on the direction that his insect had taken. It had thankfully avoided the storm and was still following the trail of the akatsuki. Shizune and Asuma, were on the whole ignoring Naruto's argument and instead planning what they would do when the storm let up. Shikamaru was in his custom stance and going through his own plans formulated from the information that he had. Chiyo was still stunned by that fact that a mere child had the ability to summon a dragon and actually had the gall to argue with the great beast as if they were equals. She was also still trying to understand his connection to Gaara.

'_He's my friend._' Chiyo couldn't wrap her head around the fact that a ninja from another village would fight so strongly for a demon container simply because they were friends. There had to be an ulterior motive.

"**Fine brat! If it will shut you up then I will move you all beyond this troublesome storm, but you will stay silent for the entire trip or I will drop you into the storm and watch you die!**" Tatsuo snarled in annoyance. Naruto smirked at having worn the surly dragon down and sat on its head. Hinata gave a slight giggle at Naruto's accomplishment and sat beside him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

They all felt a shudder as the dragon rose into the air and began to flap its massive wings to get them out of the storm. The ninja had to trust that Tatsuo knew where he was going as they were all blind in the storm.

'Hang on Gaara. We're coming.' Naruto thought as he silently urged the great beast to go faster.

**(Akatsuki hideout)**

Nine silhouettes stood on the fingers of a giant statue. The statue was known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It was a giant stone creature that had a number of rocky protrusions coming from its back. Its hands were turned upward as if trying to receive something and its wrists were bound. It had a bit in its mouth and it had nine eyes. Only a couple were open and had a pupil, signifying that a demon was captured within. Gaara lay in the hands of the statue unconscious.

Only the two akatsuki members that had actually captured Gaara were physically present. The other seven were astral projections of the remaining members and they were all preparing the ritual. The mouth of the statue opened and the bit fell to the ground. Dragon like forms of energy left the mouth and surrounded Gaara. Gaara's eyes and mouth opened and yellow demonic chakra began to exit his body. It would take three days for the one tailed demon to be fully sealed within the statue and they didn't want to waste time.

"Deidara, Sasori are you both sure that you won't be followed? We don't have the luxury of being disturbed." The leader of the group asked the two man team.

"I don't see how. With a sand storm covering our tracks, no one would be foolish enough to attempt to follow until it's let up which should give us an extra day at the least." Sasori stated calmly.

"Still it would be unfortunate should they find a way through. With the nine tails' container we can never be too careful." Itachi's astral form stated clamly.

"If you had just grabbed the kid when you had the chance for three years then it wouldn't be an issue." Kisame muttered.

"It was not yet time to take him. The fox must be sealed last for the statue will crumble. I would like two volunteers to ensure that our location is kept safe long enough for us to finish." The leader stated as he looked to his men.

"I volunteer." Itachi stated softly, knowing the leader's plan.

"I will too. It's been to long since I've had a good fight." Kisame said with a smirk.

"Very well. I will use 40% of your chakra. Even should they defeat your clones, they will have wasted valuable time and we should be finished by then." The leader said as he began to make hand signs.

**(Forest)**

Tatsuo had finally cleared the sand storm and began to lower himself towards the ground. They were out of the desert and approaching the forest. The ninja jumped off of his back and prepared themselves to move.

"Thanks." Naruto said shortly to the giant beast. He wondered if he should press his luck and ask him to take them further but Naruto quickly dismissed this line of thought. For one, he was positive that the answer would be negative and also, he didn't want to indebted to Tatsuo anymore than he already was.

"**Whatever brat. Just remember that I will be calling on that favor soon enough.**" He stated with a snort as he vanished in a bright light. Naruto fell to one knee and took a few seconds to catch his breath. While it wasn't much, summoning the dragons and keeping them in the world required a steady flow of chakra. He was not one hundred percent yet and he was a bit winded.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked in a worried tone.

"I'll be alright. Let's get moving." Naruto said as he got to his feet and let Shino lead the way.

"My insect has been stopped. It has found their hideout." Shino said after they had been traveling for a while.

"How far is it?" Shizune asked.

"At least a day away maybe more." Shino replied.

"We have to time to waste then." Naruto said as he increased his speed.

"Wait boy!" Chiyo said as she slammed into his side, forcing him to the ground.

"What's your problem baa-chan?" Naruto said in anger.

"Pay attention!" Chiyo said as she walked forward slowly and tripped the wire that Naruto was about to hit full speed. Two puppets immediately sprang from the surrounding bush and opened their mouths to spew hundreds of poison darts. Had they continued forward, they would have been caught from both sides.

'Traps.' The shinobi all thought in irritation. If they had to move slowly through the forest looking out for any traps then it would increase their time wasted greatly.

"Anybody got an idea? We don't have time to continue on slowly." Asuma said, looking more to Shikamaru than anyone else.

"Naruto how many clones can you safely create right now?" Shikamaru asked his friend.

"And still have enough chakra to fight at relatively full strength? About 100." Naruto stated calmly much to the surprise of everyone but team eight.

"What are you boy?" Chiyo asked dumbfounded. Naruto flinched slightly at the question.

"He is Naruto Uzumaki of the hidden leaf and a great shinobi. Please refrain from talking about him as if he were an object." Hinata said a soft but steely tone. 

"**Shadow clone jutsu.**" Naruto called out as he summoned his clones and sent them out in all directions. They all waited as they heard a number of explosions, and pain filled cries before they began to move.

"Whoever we're about to run into are dangerous. I lost all my clones and am still not completely sure that I tripped all the traps." Naruto said as he winced at some of the memories he got from his destroyed copies.

"It might be better if we split up. At least that way if one of us spring a trap, it's not likely to take the rest with us." Asuma stated. Shino held up a hand and a number of insects flew out and swirled around Asuma.

"They all have the location of my insect and will lead you to it. I will stay with my team." Shino said. Asuma nodded and took team ten with him. Chiyo had decided to follow with the strange blonde haired boy.

"Let's move." Naruto said as Shino took the lead.

Both teams moved fast and hard for as long as they could. While none of them wanted to, they had to rest for the night knowing that they needed to be at full strength when they arrived. They got up early in the next morning and began once again. However, when they were roughly one quarter of the remaining distance away both teams ran into resistance.

"We meet once again Naruto-kun." Itachi Uchiha stated as he appeared in front of ten eight.

"Uchiha." Naruto snarled in anger as they all stopped.

"I remember you! I shredded your shoulder the last time we fought. You won't get away so easily this time!" Kisame said as he appeared in front of Team ten who had been coming from a different direction.

"Kisame, the monster of the Hidden Mist." Asuma stated to himself with a wince. He wasn't so sure that he could beat this guy one on one. It was a good thing he had his team with him as Kisame pulled out samehada and rushed forward to attack them all with a blood thirsty grin on his face.

"Give us Gaara back!" Naruto shouted to the silent ninja in front of him.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that. He is need, just as you will be needed someday soon." Itachi replied back calmly.

"Then I guess I'll get to finally wipe out the last of your cursed clan." Naruto said as he and his team prepared themselves.

"We shall see." Itachi said as he turned his complete sharingan on them all preparing himself.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 6! Yes a different team has accompanied Naruto to save Gaara. **

**How will team ten handle the deranged Kisame? Will Naruto be able to get past Itachi in time? Why does almost every dragon give Naruto a hard time? That is a secret! **

**Happy New Year and until next time Kyuubi123 out!**

**P.S. there is an author who has requested and gotten my permission to begin to draw some of the scenes from Naruto's True Nindo. His name is SymboitShadow and you can find the link from his homepage. I was very flattered and want to thank him for his hard work.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**(Team eight)**

"We don't have time for this. Get out of our way Itachi." Naruto said as he drew his sword. He stopped short when Hinata griped his shoulder. He turned to look at her in confusion.

"Save your energy Naruto-kun. Getting into a fight with him right now isn't a good idea with your current chakra levels." She said softly. She knew that he was putting up a front. Creating one hundred clones a day ago had seriously drained his reserves. He could fool everyone else but her. He was very drained and was moving so quickly through stubbornness more than actually energy.

"What do you suggest Hinata?" Shino asked as Itachi calmly waited for them to make up their minds. The more time they spent, the easier his job as he was only meant to distract them long enough for the one tailed demon to be extracted which wouldn't take that much longer.

"I will fight him alone. The rest of you go one ahead of me and save Gaara." Hinata said simply.

"Out of the question!" Shizune ordered at the same time that Naruto himself vetoed the idea.

"That's not going to happen!" Naruto shouted in a definite tone. There was no way that he was going to allow Hinata to fight against the Uchiha prodigy alone. Shizune was of the same mindset and was fully prepared to pull rank on Hinata.

"This isn't the real Itachi Naruto-kun, Shizune-sensei." Hinata said and they all noticed that she had already activated her byakugan. Chiyo was more interested in the faintly glowing symbols on Hinata's skin, though.

"Itachi Uchiha has much more chakra then the man before us. I would say that he is a clone. Regardless we don't have the time to waste fighting against him together. The rest of you need to go and save Gaara. I'm sure that I can handle him." Hinata said as her daggers appeared in her hands.

"I'm not sure about this Hinata-chan." Naruto said as his natural protective streak for the lavender eyed girl began to show.

"If you're so concerned then hurry back and help me after you save Gaara." Hinata said with a sweet smile. Naruto didn't look happy with this decision in the least but the look in Hinata's eyes showed that she was not going to back down in the least. Naruto turned to Shino and his friend gave a subtle nod. Shizune seemed torn as she knew that from their mission point of view it was a good decision but she wasn't sure that Hinata could fight him and win even if he was a clone. Chiyo wasn't convinced at all.

"You aren't seriously considering allowing her to fight against the prodigy of the Uchiha clan alone are you? That is insanity! Fighting against one with the sharingan will only be successfully if you have at least two people. One to distract and one to attack from behind. Otherwise, it is better to retreat." The old woman stated.

"I am very tired of hearing how superior their eyes are. Yes they are powerful and are difficult to defeat but they are not infallible. Everything and everyone has a weakness and the Uchiha are no different. It's that kind of mentality that makes you lose the battle before it even begins." Naruto replied back to the woman hotly. Chiyo snorted and muttered something about idiot blonds.

"Are you finished? The more time you take the more time you give us to remove the demon from your friend." Itachi said in his usual tone. Hinata quickly grabbed Naruto's arm to keep him from attacking in anger. She could see the red swirling in his eyes and didn't want to take a chance on him losing control.

"All of you go now." Hinata said as walked towards Itachi and readied herself. Naruto looked to Shizuen and after getting her affirmative nodded to Shino and they all moved on to rescue Gaara.

"Was that wise? Do you really believe that you can defeat me?" Itachi asked.

"I know that you are not to real Itachi Uchiha and a weak copy won't be enough to defeat me." Hinata said confidently.

"We shall see." Itachi replied.

**(Team ten)**

'A former member of the seven swordsmen of the mist, how troublesome.' Shikamaru thought darkly as Kisame gazed at them with a grin full of sharp teeth. The man looked more like an animal.

"Well I don't have all day so I think I'll kill you all if that's okay." Kisame said as he rushed forward in a burst of speed.

Asuma jumped forward with his trench knives and blocked Kisame's blow. He was able to keep the scaly sword away from his body and pushed Kisame back in a show of strength and snapped a kick to his head. The missing ninja took a few steps back before shaking his head.

"You've gotten a bit better since the last time we met. That's good! I'd hate for this to get boring." Kisame said happily as he made hand signs and suddenly spat out a large amount of water. Team ten all jumped onto the sudden lake and both Asuma and Shikamaru frowned at the new development. They were now in Kisame's element and that made their situation much more dangerous.

"Now let' have some more fun!" Kisame said as he disappeared under the water.

"Look out!" Asuma shouted as Kisame burst out of the water in the middle of them all.

Asuma was sent flying when he was forced to block a powerful swing from Kisame's Samehada. Choji moved to attack from behind but was caught in the ribs by a mule kick from Kisame and sent crashing into the ocean. Kisame turned swiftly to slash into Shikamaru but was stopped short when a metal whip wrapped around his blade and was just able to stop it from hitting the shadow user. Kisame turned and saw that Ino was now using a chain whip and had been able to stop his assault.

"Bad idea girl. It's never wise to come between a shark and its prey." He said as he pulled forward and yanked Ino towards him. He grabbed Ino by her throat and began to crush her windpipe. He froze suddenly and couldn't move.

"It's also not a good idea to take your eyes off of me." Shikamaru said as he completed his shadow possession jutsu. Asuma and Choji both had recovered by this time and came back to stand beside their teammates. Shikamaru forced Kisame to drop Ino and Asuma quickly slashed the blue man's throat. He smiled and turned into water.

'That was a water clone? How could one be that powerful?' Asuma thought. For a water clone, which only had one tenth the strength of the original body, to be that powerful meant that Kisame was a monster of a man in terms of strength and chakra capacity.

"You beat my water clone. Not bad." Kisame said from behind Asuma. The chain smoking ninja turned and saw Kisame behind him.

"**Water prison!**" Kisame said as he held his hand out towards Asuma and the leaf jonin soon found himself trapped in a sphere of water.

"Asuma-sensei!" Choji said as he rushed forward.

"Stay back!" Asuma shouted as another Kisame appeared in front of all three members of team ten. Ino and Choji were quickly trapped in water prisons as well but Shikamaru, thinking ahead, had already thrown down a kunai to swiftly dispel the clone coming towards him. He jumped back a few feet and watched as his teammates struggled to breath.

"You anticipated my attack. Very impressive for a runt. However, I know a thing or two about Naras and strength isn't your strong suit. What will you do when I send an army after you?" Kisame asked as ten more water clones soon appeared out of the water. They all had the same demented smirk on their faces and they spread themselves out so that no more than one or two of them could be caught by Shikamaru's shadow possession technique.

'Troublesome.' Shikamaru thought as they came for him.

**(Team eight)**

"I still don't think that was a good idea." Naruto muttered to himself as they grew ever closer to Gaara's location.

"I agree Naruto. However, we must complete the mission and Hinata can take care of herself at least long enough to for us to get back, it is a clone after all." Shizune said as she tried to reassure Naruto.

"I still say that you sent that girl to her death." Chiyo stated darkly.

"No one asked you baa-chan!" Naruto shouted behind him as his eyes started to turn red once again.

"Naruto control yourself!" Shino snapped. That instantly quieted the exuberant blond as Shino rarely raised his voice.

"How much longer Shino?" Shizune asked. The insect user tilted his head and didn't speak for a moment.

"Not much longer an hour or two away at the most." He said as they all moved as fast as they could.

'Stay safe Hinata-chan.' Naruto thought.

**(Hinata)**

"**Fire style: Giant fireball jutsu.**" Itachi called out as he unleashed a giant ball of flame at the former Huyga.

"**Kaiten!**" Hinata called out as she began to spin and formed a dome of chakra to protect her from the attack. However, she lost Itachi in the resulting explosion of fire and was suddenly alone standing on scorched earth.

'I can't see him around me which means he either jumped out of my range of vision or..' Hinata thought as she suddenly leapt into the air to avoid the sword that had come from the ground, aimed at her chest.

"Below!" Hinata said as she landed on a branch of the tree closest to her. Itachi surfaced from the ground with his ninjato in hand and gazed up at the girl.

"I must confess that I have been looking forward to this day Hinata-san. I am rarely surprised and the last time we met, you used a power that I had never come across before. I was and still am very tempted to see how you use this strange ability." Itachi said as he made no move to attack her.

Hinata jumped from the branch before the shadow clone that Itachi had created while underground could grab onto her from behind. She was confused why he would attempt t sneak attack knowing that her byakugan would see it coming from a mile away. She got her answer when the clone exploded, the force of which sent her tumbling to the earth.

She saw Itachi move to take advantage and caught his sword on one of her daggers. She swiftly slashed with the other towards his face, only for him to tilt his head back and bring his knee up into her chest. She rolled away from him, but was slow to rise as she was trying to catch her breath after that last blow.

'He truly is a dangerous opponent. His movements are well thought out and perfectly executed. Even though he is a clone, he still has Itachi's experience and that may prove all the difference.' Hinata thought darkly as she saw Itachi's eyes narrow slightly.

"This won't due. I am becoming bored. Surly you can do better." He said as he dispersed into a group of black crows.

'Genjutsu!' Hinata thought surprised that her Byakugan hadn't noticed the slight change. She immediately flared her chakra and turned to avoid having her head removed, though his sword did graze her cheek. She quickly retaliated and slashed with her right dagger. He dodged, but that was what she had been hoping he would do. She thrust with her left dagger and sent a burst of divine chakra through the tip, hitting Itachi in the chest and sending him back.

"Very interesting indeed." Itachi said as he got to his feet. He rubbed his chest which had been burnt from the burst of chakra and he could feel a few of his tenketsu had been shut down.

'That new chakra of hers is more powerful than regular chakra but can still be used for the Hyuga's jyukken techniques.' Itachi thought to himself as Hinata began to think of what she could do.

'A genjutsu simply by making eye contact. He truly is a frightening opponent.' She had had Kurenai use a few genjutsu on her once she gained her powers to see how effective they were. It turned out that high level genjutsu didn't work on Hinata as her byakugan would immediately detect them and her angelic chakra would destabilize the foreign chakra almost immediately. It turned out that genjutsu that relied more on subtly rather than power were harder to defeat for the lavender eyes ninja because of how difficult they were to detect. Even then, only a true master of genjutsu would be able to catch Hinata unawares. For Itachi to have put her in one so effortlessly spoke of the man's power and ability.

'This is just a clone. Just how powerful is the real Itachi?' Hinata thought as she decided that she needed to change her tactics. Hinata put away her blades, surprising Itachi.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked calmly. His eyes widened when Hinata brought out her bow.

"Dodge this." Hinata muttered as she shot three white arrows of chakra at the Uchiha prodigy.

**(Team ten)**

Shikamaru cursed silently as he ducked under another slash from one of the numerous clones that Kisame had created. He had been forced to defend himself from the very moment that Asuma and the others had been captured, thus he was having a hard time thinking up a plan. Added to this was the fact that his teammates were all captured and slowly drowning. Shikamaru jumped above a low kick and threw a kunai with an explosive tag towards the oncoming clones. The resulting explosion took out only one as the others had dove under the lake. When the smoke cleared Shikamaru was nowhere to be found.

"Pretty impressive for a little guppy. I wonder if he's smart enough to run off. My clones can't go very far from me and he could get away as long as he leaves you all to die." Kisame said as he looked at his three captives. They were fading fast from a lack of oxygen. Kisame didn't really want them to drown though. That wouldn't be any fun! He'd probably release them once the Nara was killed and take his time shaving the flesh from their bones. The horrified screams would be great!

"**Shadow Sewing.**"

Kisame watched as shadow like whips flew from the surrounding forest and skewered several of the water clones. They immediately dispersed and the remaining clones ran off in the direction of the source of the attack. They were met with an explosion that took the rest of them out.

"He used an offensive technique to give away his position but then swiftly ran while forming a trap to defeat the rest of the opponents. Not bad for a young chunin." Kisame said to himself.

'This is just the beginning. Knowing Shikamaru, he has already come up with a number of ways to get us out of here.' Asuma thought with a smirk. Over the last three years, Shikamaru had made something of a name for himself in truly being a genius of strategy. Among the new chunin, there was none who could match the lazy Nara in intelligence. To be truthful, the only reason he wasn't a jonin yet was because he though it to be too troublesome. Still Asuma prayed that Shikamaru would hurry as he was running out of air and Choji and Ino were barely holding on.

"I can make an almost infinite amount of clones boy. Destroy all you want, it still won't make a difference." Kisame called out.

Kisame's answer came in the form of flash grenade that blinded him for a moment. He smiled when without having to look, he began a jutsu.

"**Water shark jutsu!**" He called out as he felt and heard the attack hit its target. Once his sight was restored, he was pleased to see a stunned and in pain Shikamaru on the far side of the lake, his water shark having hit the mark.

"And here I thought you were the smart one. The moment you stepped onto the water I could sense your presence. I don't need to see you when you come onto my element. Did you really think that you would be able to trick me like that? I'm offended." Kisame said with a smirk as Shikamaru unsteadily got to his feet.

"What's with you anyway? You could run away right now and save yourself or at least get some distance before I finished off your team and came after you. I'm curious why you would try to attack a physically superior opponent with no chance for victory." Kisame said.

"It's troublesome, but I made a promise to my girlfriend that I would save her brother. Also, it would be far too troublesome to have to return to Konoha without my teammates. Oh and one more thing, just because you're stronger than me doesn't mean that you are going to beat me." Shikamaru said in a lazy tone as he put his hands in his pockets.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Kisame asked as he prepared to summon another water clone.

"Check" Shikamaru said simply as Choji and Ino appeared at his side.

"What?" Kisame yelled as he turned and saw that the two other water clones had long since been dispersed.

"I figured that you would still be able to find me without your sight. I ran towards you intentionally to keep your attention on me. I used my shadow to kill your two clones and free up my team." Shikamaru said as Ino and Choji turned to him.

"Took you long enough Shikamaru! I almost died you know." Ino seethed at the nonchalant genius.

"I had to wait until he deemed you both as not a threat and more or less forgot about you." Shikamaru defended himself.

"I knew you'd come through buddy." Choji said with a grin.

"That was only check. There's more to do before checkmate." Shikamaru said to his best friend.

"And you of course have a plan." Ino said with a smirk of her own.

"Let's show him how much team ten has improved." Shikamaru said as he told them his plan.

**(Team eight)**

"We're here." Shino said as they came to a large cave that was sealed with a giant boulder.

"Gaara's inside then." Naruto said seeing Shino nod in acknowledgement.

"How do you plan to get through this barrier that they have put up?" Chiyo asked as she placed her hand on the boulder, feeling the chakra that guarded those inside.

"The direct approach of course." Naruto said with a smirk as he grabbed his blade.

"Hold on Naruto. You're pretty low on chakra and need to conserve the rest of it. When we get inside, we'll need to be at our best." Shizune said, calming the blonde down.

"What do you suggest then?" Naruto asked impatiently. Gaara, Hinata, and team ten were in trouble and he was restraining himself from either running back to save Hinata or breaking though the barrier with gratuitous violence.

"A barrier of this caliber will be very difficult to break through by conventional means." Chiyo stated after inspecting it for a while.

"My insects can sense the flow of chakra and there is a very distinct pattern to it. If we were able to somehow knock it off rhythm, the barrier might break." Shino stated a bit reluctantly.

"I sensed that as well boy but what use does it do us? It would take a very large burst of chakra and none of us has the chakra to do it alone. If we all do it together than all of us will be vulnerable to the enemy." Chiyo stated.

"Naruto?" Shino asked with uncertainty. Naruto took a deep breath and nodded to his friend.

"Stand back." Naruto told them. Shizune and Chiyo looked like they were going to protest but a look from Shino quieted them. Naruto knelt to the ground and took a deep breath. They all felt the wave of demonic chakra that surrounded Naruto. He stood a bit shakily with crimson red eyes as the crimson cloak of chakra surrounded him in the form of a fox with one tail.

"So this is the power of the nine tailed fox." Chiyo muttered to herself. She could tell that there was something off with the boy's chakra coils and could see him struggling for some reason.

"Time to kick the doors down." Naruto said as he placed his hands on the large obstruction and began to channel copious amounts of demonic chakra into the barrier. The amount needed was truly staggering and Naruto felt like he was trying to divert a stream of water with a water balloon.

'**You're going about it the wrong way kit. Subtly is the key for this action. Focus on a central point and send all of my power towards it. You don't need to overwhelm the entire barrier just a single part that will cause a domino effect.**' Kytuubi stated from within Naruto's mind. Naruto didn't respond as he did what the fox suggested and began to focus his chakra in one specific point and tried again. He was heavily sweating and panting with exhaustion when he felt it happen. The barrier began to fluctuate as its rhythm was disrupted. Naruto jumped back as they watched the chakra surrounded the entrance war with itself before a shockwave of chakra dispersed and signaled that the barrier had broken.

"Piece of cake." Naruto said in a tired tone. Everyone looked to him in concern but he shook his head at them and pointed at the boulder.

"I did the hard part, so who's going to open the door for us?" Naruto asked.

"Leave that to me." Shizune stated as she walked towards the thick slab of rock. Shizune focused her chakra and unleashed a single punch that shattered the giant obstacle with ease. Chiyo looked darkly at Shizune and knew that she was correct in her assumption that the woman was indeed an apprentice to the legendary Tsunade Senju.

"You okay?" Naruto asked as he saw Shizune clutch her hand.

"Yes, I still haven't mastered that technique yet and the repercussions for using it are very severe." Shizune said as she felt the cracked bones in her hand.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted as he rushed ahead.

"Naruto wait!" Shizune stated as she silently cursed. Naruto was far from the completely energetic and reckless child he had been a long time ago. Normally he was able to keep his energy restrained and used it wisely. However, when someone he cared about was threatened then all bets were off and he was likely to revert to acting without thinking. They all raced after the young ninja into the dark cave at full speed.

"We are about to be interrupted." The leader stated calmly.

"Is it finished?" Sasori asked.

"…..Not completely, however, we have all that we need for our plans and the boy will die so it is time to move out. Sasori, Deidara, you are to engage the approaching ninja and if possible capture the kyuubi container. News of his strength is even now being spread throughout the lands and we should take the opportunity to capture him now." The leader stated as the chakra surrounding Gaara vanished and he fell to the ground, still alive but not for very much longer. The astral projections of the other members disappeared and the statute closed its eyes and vanished as well. It was not a moment too soon as Sasori and Deidara turned to await their enemy.

"They're almost here. Good, I hate having to wait." Sasori stated calmly as Deidara dug into the twin pouches at his side for some of his special clay.

Naruto and company finally came face to face with their opponents and the blond chunin's eyes were locked with Gaara's still form.

"Gaara!" Naruto called out in a horrified tone.

"He's not dead yet but it won't be long now. The one tailed beast is ours and this empty shell is of no further use." Sasori said in a cold tone.

"Give him back." Naruto snarled softly as his eyes turned crimson once again.

"Come and get him hn." Deidara said with a smirk of amusement.

"Gladly." Naruto said before Shino grabbed his arm.

"Calm yourself Naruto. Gaara is not dead yet but if we act recklessly then that will change." Shino stated to his friend while never taking his eyes off the two enemy ninja.

"Deidara, your attacks will do more harm than good in this cave. Go away and allow me to handle this." Sasori stated calmly as his eyes remained on Chiyo, his grandmother.

"I won't let you have all of the fun." Deidara said as he opened his palm and a small bird of clay rested in his hand. He formed a hand sign and the bird grew in size until Deidara could stand on it. The bird grabbed Gaara's body and flew into the air. Deidara opened his other palm and threw a small spider towards the roof of the cave and formed another hand sign.

"**Katsu**!" he said as the spider exploded and broke through the roof. The ninjs on the gorund had to avoid large pieces of stone as Deidara flew through the opening.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto shouted as he began to run of the wall of the cave and jumped through the opening as well.

"Darn it! Shino go after him. We'll stay here and take care of this." Shizune stated. As Shino nodded his head and took off after his friend and teammate.

"You believe that they will be enough?" Chiyo asked.

"They'll have to be." Shizune said as Sasori began to move.

**(Hinata)**

Hinata was on her knees in exhaustion. She had been battling with Itachi ever since Naruto had left an hour or so ago. She could tell when they finally made it to the hideout as she could feel the demonic chakra he had used to overwhelm the seal. However, she was no closer to defeating Itachi then she had been since the beginning of the battle. It didn't matter that he was only a clone of the real missing ninja. It didn't matter that he didn't have the full strength of the original Itachi. It also didn't matter that she had pulled out all of the stops in attacking him as she held nothing back.

None of this mattered because Hinata simply couldn't defeat the man.

No matter what she did, he was always one step ahead of her. Even her divine chakra arrows were no longer able to catch the man off guard. She had bitten off more than she could chew and finally understood why he was still one of the most feared shinobi in the lands. Still, she wasn't about to give up.

"Naruto-kun had finally gotten to your hideout. You failed to stop him in time." Hinata said with a smirk.

"It matters not. The one tailed beast is ours and our objective is complete." Itachi stated. Despite what Hinata thought, Itachi wasn't as calm as he appeared. He had taken damage and was as exhausted as she, he simply hid it better. He supposed that he could leave as his job was finished but he wanted to see just how powerful the girl could be. He had no doubt that he could kill her should they ever truly meet but he was still curious about her.

"Regardless, it doesn't affect our situation. As Naruto and the others have just made it to our hide away, they will not be able to make it back in time to save you. I am sure that your dead body will be a perfect way to break the boy." Itachi stated as he sharingan morphed into the Mangekyo once again.

"Now allow me to show you one of the most powerful ninjutsu in the world. **Amateratsu**." Itachi said calmly.

Hinata had barely a second to recognize the danger and leap into the air with a burst of chakra. Black flames consumed the area she had just been in and left a crater of destruction. Hinata was shocked at the power behind that attack. She had survived the Tsykuyomi and knew that there had to be other techniques exclusive to the Mangekyo sharingan but she had no idea that they had a jutsu that powerful. She was broken out of her thoughts when the flames, that had yet to die down, reformed and flew towards her.

"These flames will burn for seven days and nights without losing their power. Also, they are still mine to control." Itachi stated as he raised his hands and directed the flames to encircle the air born shinobi and to consume her.

He stopped his attack and wasn't surprised to see no sign of her. She would have been instantly incinerated had they actually made contact with her but he knew better. He turned his head to the side to avoid being hit by one of Hinata's daggers. The young chunin had been able to use a substitution to save herself.

"Very impressive. Avoiding them not once but twice is a feat in and of itself." Itachi stated as he turned to look at the girl.

"You give yourself away Itachi. I can already tell that you are a clone and that you don't have the same amount of chakra as the real one. That being the case, you only used the Mangekyo as a last resort because it takes a great deal of chakra. Your eyes have returned to normal because I'm betting that fire technique sapped all of your reserves." Hinata stated.

"This is true, however, you are low on chakra as well and have yet to truly hurt me." Itachi stated calmly.

'And I'm about to change that. Naruto-kun has been tapping into the Kyuubi's power and that will have dire consequences for him later. I have to end this now.' Hinata thought.

Hinata brought out her bow of chakra and began to shoot arrows at Itachi. He narrowed his eyes and he once again gave himself completely to dodging the attacks. The accuracy with her byakugan made each arrow a lethal weapon and there were no openings to counter attack. He was a bit confused by the way she was going about attacking him though. Before, she had attempted to use as few as possible to save her energy, she was now letting them loose at a greater speed, though she was still deadly accurate.

"**Eight trigrams: empty palm!**" Hinata thrust her hand and shout a burst of chakra towards Itachi. He evaded again as she expected and she immediately pulled her hand back. Itachi was confused by the move until he felt a sharp pain in his back. He turned his head and saw that handle for her dagger sticking out of his back.

'I see. That move was only a distraction while she called the blade back to her. I simply was in the way.' Itachi thought with a measure of respect for her. Despite her earlier troubles, she had not given into despair nor anger and act rashly by either attacking recklessly or showing her best moves. She had obviously been waiting to use this special trait of her blades for the most opportune moment.

Itachi had no time to think of a counter as a lance of white chakra extended from the blade and pierced completely through his chest. At the same time, three arrows struck him, one in the heart and the remaining two in the spine and neck. He coughed up blood and fell to the ground.

'Until we meet again Hinata Yuhi.' He thought before the clone died. Hinata approached the kill and retrieved her dagger. She hadn't wanted to allow the fact that she could use them from long range with a small extension of her angelic powers to get out. Itachi would now know about it and be prepared for their next confrontation. However, it was all she could do to surprise the man and the only way to surprise an uchiha was to attack from the back, where their cursed eyes couldn't see.

Hinata took a moment to inspect the new person in front of her. It was a suna ninja but he was long since dead and she couldn't help but feel a small measure of regret having to take his life just to stop Itachi.

'I will grow stronger. I am far too weak to help Naruto-kun against the likes of Itachi and the Akatsuki. However, that is for another time.' Hinata thought as she offered a silent prayer for the unfortunate sand ninja and rushed to catch up to her team.

**(Team ten)**

"Everyone understand their job?" Shikamaru asked as Ino and Choji nodded in agreement, and not a moment too soon as Kisame had gotten impatient.

"Enough of this!" Kisame stated loudly as he created more water clones.

"Go!" Shikamaru ordered. Shikamaru took point and quickly met the water clones head on.

"**Shadow sewing.**" He called out as the clones were pierced and dispelled. He continued on towards Kisame.

"**Water shark missile!**" Kisame called out. A giant water shark formed out of the water and flew towards Shikamaru. The shadow user jumped to the side as Choji took his place.

"**Partial expansion: arm!**" he shouted as he slammed his now giant fist into the shark. Shikamaru and Ino had jumped to either side of Choji and continued on their way.

"**Water dragon missile!**" Kisame shouted as the dragon flew towards Choji and caught him in the chest. Choji was thrown back under the water and didn't rise again.

"Choji-kun!" Ino shouted as she turned to look at him.

"Ino pay attention!" Shikamaru shouted. However he let guard down and Kisame took advantage. A water clone formed behind Shikamaru and grabbed him in a chock hold.

"Two down." Kisame stated darkly as he snapped Shikamaru's neck. However, the clone was confused when the limp body dissolved away.

'Genjutsu!' Kisame thought before he felt his body freeze up. He couldn't move his body and he felt his clone being dispersed. Suddenly, Ino stood before him and grabbed his head. He could see that Choji had taken out his clone and Shikamaru was holding him in his shadow possession.

"Hurry up Ino!" Shikamaru shouted as he felt Kisame fighting desperately against them. However, Kisame quickly overpowered the shadow possession and kicked out at Ino.

'Just how powerful is this guy?' Shikamaru thought in wonder at the speed in which he was able to overpower the shadow possession jutsu.

Ino attacked with her whip as Choji came up to attack as well. Kisame brought his hand up and Ino's chain whip wrapped around his arm.

'Got yay.' She thought.

"**Mind destruction.**" Ino shouted before releasing her whip and Kisame began to roar and thrash around. Asuma was freed and Shikamru released the deranged man. Team ten regrouped together and watched as the man continued to clutch his head.

"Nice job Ino. I'll take it from here." Asuma stated as he grabbed his trench knives and rushed towards the still agonizing Kisame.

"What happened Shikamaru?" Choji asked in confusion. Her mind destruction jutsu was supposed to make the target try to kill themselves or any other enemy in the area. While Shikamaru had been the one to tell her to use it, he still didn't get what it was doing this to Kisame.

"Ino didn't use that on Kisame's mind but the mind of the person that is being used by Kisame." Shikamaru stated simply as Asuma made it to the target. Kisame's movements were sluggish and strained and Asuma took advantage.

It was simple really in Shikamaru's mind. The real Kisame was with the rest of the Akatsuki trying to extract the one tailed demon from Gaara. Thus this had to be a clone. However, Ino had told him that she sensed two minds in one body after he had freed them. Shikamaru took this to mean that this was no ordinary clone but one that required another's body with Kisame's mind controlling it. It was a very advanced move but had a fatal flaw in that they had a Yamanaka with them.

Shikamaru's plan had been to distract Kisame and allow Ino to get close enough to make her move. Thus he and Choji attacked him, turning his attention to them and then Ino placed him in a minor genjtusu. She wasn't that skilled in them but it only had to distract him for a brief moment so Shikamaru could capture him in the shadow possession. Ino was then supposed to use the mind destruction immediately but Kisame had proven stronger than anticipated. Shikamaru was very happy that Ino had been able to grab him with her whip because as long as there was a form of contact between her and her target, her mind jutsus would always hit. Ino then used her mind destruction on the suppressed mind of the man being used by Kisame and this caused the body to begin to war with itself as two minds struggled for dominance, Kisame's and the now insane mind of the original ninja.

Choji and Ino had questioned why go through such elaborate means when she could have simply used the mind destruction technique from afar. Shikamaru calmly told them that it was for two reasons. First of all it would make Kisame use powerful water jutsus to keep them away from him as he was unable to move from his current position else he release Asuma. Also had he seen Ino preparing the jutsu, he could have killed Asuma immediately and then jumped out of the way. His plan had taken Kisame's attention off of the two most important people, Asuma and Ino.

Team ten watched as Asuma continued to attack Kisame. To his credit, the blue skinned fought fairly well for a man whose body was being fought over by two warring minds. However, he was low on chakra from the prolonged use of the water prison as well as the high powered jutsus used to keep them at bay. Shikamaru's plan had worked perfectly and Asuma finished the job.

"**Wind style: dance of blades!**" Asuma shouted as he began to spin and reappeared behind Kisame. A second passed before the missing ninja erupted into a fountain of blood and gore and he was diced into large chunks of flesh. Ino looked a bit sick and Choji was surprised at Asuma's brutality. Shikamaru understood however. Kisame was a monster that enjoyed causing pain. Even if it was only a clone, Asuma had been letting off some aggression and letting the ninja know that the rivalry between them was going to come to a conclusion one day. None of them knew it, but miles away, the real Kisame smiled at the brutal way that Asuma had killed the clone. It proved that he was going to be a fun one to finally kill when they met up again.

"Let's go." Asuma shouted as they took off in the direction that they had all felt the demonic chakra pulse come from.

**(Akatsuki hideout)**

"It's been a while grandmother. You've aged quite a bit since then." Sasori stated softly.

"That I have my dear grandson. However, I am ashamed that you would join up with these people." She stated, as Shizune walked slowly to flank the hulking figure.

"I do what I must grandmother and I am afraid that my duty is to now kill you both." Sasori stated as a long metal tail appeared out of the back of his cloak and flew towards Shizune. She was almost caught flat footed by the attack and was just able to jump back in time.

Sasori was not a patient man and continued with his attack by ripping his cloak off and revealing his body. On the left arm of the puppet was a metal gauntlet and the long metal tail came out of the mouth of a demonic looking mask that covered the back of Sasori. He fell on all fours and watched them closely.

"That is the puppet Hiruko." Chiyo stated as Shizune came back by her side, deciding that they would need to stick together.

Sasori brought his left arm up and launched the gauntlet at them. Shrapnel of senbon began to fly in all directions and Chiyo and Shizune both knew that they were all coated in his deadly poison.

"**Earth style: rock protection!**" Shizune called out as she and Chiyo were soon surrounded in a dome of hardened earth. She released the technique after they heard the storm of senbon pass and went on the offensive.

"**Fire ball jutsu!**" Shizune called out.

"**Wind style: air burst!**" Chiyo called out as she sent a mid level wind technique to combine with Shizune's fire jutsu causing a wild firestorm to head towards Sasori. The flames engulfed the body and they saw it begin to burn and crumble.

Before he was destroyed, Sasori opened Hiruko's mouth and had him spit out multiple senbon. Shizune tackled Chiyo out of the way but was surprised to feel a stabbing pain in her back. She turned and could only look with a stunned expression at the metal tail that had come from the ground and pierced her side. Sasori had used the senbon as a distraction and had sacrificed his puppet to take one of them down. The tail immediately went limp as the puppet was destroyed by the attack. Chiyo immediately began healing Shizune but was worried about the poison.

"In my pack." Shizune said as she grit her teeth in pain. Chiyo found a number of syringes, all filled with a strange orange mixture. Understanding that Shizune had made more of the antidote in preparation of their confrontation, Chiyo used one on Shizune and saw the black haired woman's face ease as the pain was slowly taken away.

"I will be a bit groggy and slow as the antidote works. I don't know how much use I will be against him now." Shizune stated as Chiyo continued to heal her.

Chiyo looked into the fire that had yet to die down and saw a figure jump out of the burning puppet. The figure brought a shock to Chiyo as she looked at Sasori's true body. He looked no different than how he did years ago! He still had the face of a teenager and his face was devoid of any wrinkles or scars and the same red hair.

"You didn't." Chiyo stated in a stunned tone.

"Didn't what dear grandmother? Finally rip the chains of humanity from me? For that is exactly what I have done. I am now the perfect being. My body will never tire and never grow old. And should it be destroyed then I will move to a new one. I have found immortality." Sasori stated calmly.

"You've turned yourself in a human puppet! You are no longer even a human." Chiyo seethed in anger not only at Sasori but at herself.

Sasori had learned how to use and create puppets from her. His parent's had been ninja and had both died during the second great ninja war against Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake, the father of Kakashi. Sasori had been distraught and Chiyo took him under her wing and began to train and raise him. She had gotten him interested in puppets but was broken hearted when she found him one day trying to make two puppets that he had made in the likeness of his mother and father attempt to hold him in a hug. He had grown cold after that and had discarded the puppets that looked like his parents. He began to create more and more powerful puppets that were used in the third great ninja war. They were so successful that they would bathe the battlefield in red blood which was what gave him the name, Sasori of the red sand. He had left the village shortly after the war's conclusion and had not been heard from since. Chiyo had felt like she had failed him every day since he had left.

Sasori's body had a few changes on it. His chest looked like every other puppet's except that in the left side of it was a strange cylinder. Chiyo knew that this was cylinder contained the only thing that was truly human, his heart. His stomach compartment contained a thick cable that was wrapped around a pole. Attached to his back was a scroll holder that held four scrolls. There were also poles attached to the back of his hips each equipped with five large blades. Sasori had turned his body into a deadly weapon of destruction.

"This is going to be difficult." Shizune muttered as Sasori raised his hands and a pipe in each hand. A wave of fire erupted from the pipes and raced towards them. They jumped away and were surprised to see the fire was powerful enough to melt through the rock formation that they had used previously. Shizune realized that they wouldn't be able to rely on her earth based defenses with a powerful attack like that.

The five bladed poles began to spin and Sasori floated in the air and he flew towards Shizune in a burst of speed that she was unprepared to counter. She was suddenly jerked back and away from the twin spinning blades of death and landed in front of Chiyo. She noticed that she had chakra strings attached to her arms, legs and body and that Chiyo was controlling her movements.

"You said that you would not be able to fight at your best because of the antidote. Allow me to use your body as you will no longer have that restriction." Chiyo said softly. Shizune nodded and prepared herself. She was sure that she would have to smash his body to defeat him and between her strength and Chiyo's analytical mind, they had a good chance of victory.

"If you are going to use a puppet grandmother then it is only fair that I use one of my own. This is my favorite one as well." Sasori stated as he summoned a very special puppet.

"N-no it can't be." Chiyo stated in shock and horror. Before them was a dark haired puppet wearing a cloak.

"Who is that?" Shizune asked the stunned woman.

"The third Kazekage. You are the one who killed him?" Chiyo shouted in rage. The Third Kazekage was considered to be the strongest ninja to ever live in the sand village. He had suddenly disappeared years ago and the sand village searched desperately for their beloved leader. That was the event that actually started the third great ninja war as the sand village accused other rival villages of kidnapping/assassinating the Kazekage.

"An entire war caused by your greed." Chiyo snarled in anger at her grandson.

"He was very difficult to kill. I wanted him as a human puppet but he wouldn't go quietly. Still I was victorious and now he is my favorite and most valuable puppet." Sasori stated as the puppet of the third kazekage opened its mouth and black sand began to float into the air.

"What is that?" Shizune asked in curiosity and concern.

"The Iron Sand technique. The third was able to manipulate his chakra and convert it into magnetic forces. This made him immune to all metallic weapons and he was able to use it with iron powder to form the Iron Sand technique, the most powerful technique in our village.

"Allow me to give you a demonstration." Sasori stated as the iron sand began to form into giant shapes, a pyramid and block. The giant weapons of sand flew towards them with surprising speed. Chiyo and Shizune dodged and the sand weapons smashed into the ground with great force.

'This is going to be difficult.' Shizune thought dryly as the shapes came at them again.

**(Naruto)**

Naruto was racing full speed after the fleeing Deidara. His vision was turning crimson as he called on more and more of the fox's power to help him catch the blonde haired enemy. However, his inattention nearly cost him greatly as he noticed several small birds flying towards him.

"**Katsu!**" Diedara shouted from on top of his flying mount. Naruto's eyes widened as the birds in front of him began to glow with light. He felt himself being jerked back before the resulting explosion engulfed him. Naruto turned and looked into the shades of a visibly annoyed Shino. The aburame had used his spider entrapment jutsu to pull Naruto back before being caught in the explosion.

"You know all too well what happens when you lose control of your emotions Naruto. Calm down and stop acting like a genin fresh out of the academy!" Shino reprimanded. Naruto took a deep breath and tried to bring himself under control. No matter how much he wanted to save Gaara, getting blown to bits wasn't going to help anyone.

"Sorry about that Shino." Naruto said softly as they moved together to catch Deidara.

"Gaara is of no further use to them. Thus it is apparent that they simply wished to separate us and play on your emotions to capture you as well." Shino stated.

"But Gaara is dying. If we don't get him soon then there will be nothing we can do and I refuse to lose my friend to these monsters!" Naruto snarled as his eyes turned crimson once again.

"Then we will save him, but you must keep a calm head. He is clearly a long range fighter and you are predominantly a medium to close range fighter. You couldn't have gone after a worse opponent." Shino said as they caught sight of Deidara once again.

"You have a plan?" Naruto asked as Deidara thrust out his hands and sent spider bombs at them. They separated from the mini explosions and Naruto turned and threw shuriken at the man. Deidara simply flew below the coming projectiles.

"You'll have to do much better than that if you want to get me! I wonder how much time this empty shell has before he finally breathes his last." Deidara said with a smirk.

"**Shadow Clone jutsu!**" Naruto called out as he created twenty clones that leapt at the flying enemy.

Deidara opened his hands to reveal a large snake. He threw the serpent at the clones and formed his hand sign. The snake grew in size and wrapped itself around the clones.

"Art is a blast! **Katsu**!" he called out as the snake exploded, taking all of the clones with it.

"Is that all you've got? The leader keeps telling us to be wary of your power and yet you're nothing but a wet behind the ears chunin. I don't even want to waste my art against someone so pathetic." Deidara stated.

Naruto growled as his hair began to spike. His eyes turned a deep crimson and a black vertical slit appeared in them. He fell on all fours as the red fox cloak appeared around him. The ears and single tail sprouted from the cloak and Naruto looked at his prey with a feral stare.

'**Rip him apart!**' Kyuubi's voice called out to Naruto.

"Come and get me!" Deidara said with a smile as he began to float into the air. However, he was a bit surprised when Naruto lifted his hand and shot a crimson hand of chakra at the man. Deidara flew under the chakra arm with a dark expression on his face.

"So this is the power of the nine tailed fox." I'm still not impressed." He muttered to himself.

"You shouldn't let your guard down."

Deidara turned in surprise to see Shino standing on his bird. The Aburame had escaped the earlier explosion and simply waited for the most opportune moment. Deidara had forgotten about him and that had cost him as Shino held Gaara in his arms and leapt off of the bird.

"Naruto attack him now!" Shino shouted as he landed on the ground with Gaara. However, Shino never noticed the small spider that Deidara had attached to Gaara's clothes just in case someone was able to get the body away from him.

"You should never steal from an artist. We don't like our work being taken from us. **Katsu!**" he shouted. Shino looked down at the hand sized spider and his eyes widened before it exploded, engulfing both he and Gaara.

"Shino! Gaara!" Naruto shouted as he raced towards them. However, Deidara jumped off of his bird and landed in front of Naruto. He signaled his bird to fly towards the blond chunin and immediately made it exploded, catching Naruto in it.

"Hn, looks like I just caught my second demon container with my art, Sasori-senpai is going to be so jealous." Deidara said to himself with a smile. It was wiped form his face when he jumped aside to avoid that red chakra claw that had come for him. He turned to the still smoldering fire left by his bird and was a bit surprised to see a dome of chakra protecting the boy. The dome dispersed but in its place was Naruto with a second tail of chakra waving behind him extending from his cloak.

"**I'm going to rip your head off!**" Naruto shouted in a dark tone as he flew towards Deidara with blood lust in his gaze.

Deidara leapt away from the irate ninja but couldn't avoid one of the tails of chakra that slammed into his chest and sent him flying into a tree.

"**Demon's Bane!**" Naruto called out as he gathered some demonic chakra to his mouth and shot out the red beam of condensed chakra. Deidara could do nothing as the red caught him in the arm and incinerated it off his body. Naruto smirked in victory before he saw Deidara's body turned into clay and explode. The massive explosion did little to Naruto as he searched around for the real ninja. He turned when he heard movement from behind him and saw a badly burned and limping Shino.

"Naruto, help me. I was barely able to escape the explosion. Gaara didn't make it though." Shino stated softly and in pain.

'Gaara's dead? No..No! I refuse to believe that.' Naruto thought in a stunned state. He couldn't have failed his friend already. He saw Shino stumble and rushed to grab his friend.

"Shino, say something!" Naruto shouted to his unconscious friend. He would never forgive himself if Shino lost his life as well.

"Art is a blast!" Shino stated as Naruto's blood ran cold as he began to glow.

"**Katsu!**" Naruto heard from behind him as Shino exploded in a ground shaking explosion.

"I love it when a plan comes together." Deidara said to himself as he watched the massive explosion. It had taken most of his remaining exploding clay but the capture of the kyuubi container was complete!

**(Shizune and Chiyo)**

Chiyo moved Shizune away from the massive objects of iron sand. They had been on the defensive from the moment that Sasori began to use the third Kazekage. Sasori seemed content to continue to use the third Kazekage's iron sand techniques to keep them on their toes. The slightest nick would inject them with poison and they were well aware of that. Shizune could use her strength to block the blocks, and spears that Sasori sent their way. However, as she had never truly learned to completely master her master's super strength to the extent that Sakura had, she had to be very careful how much chakra she used, lest she break her bones and be useless.

"You puppet is nothing compared to my own grandmother." Sasori stated calmly as he sent the third towards them once again. Chiyo sent Shizuen to intercept the human puppet but once again, it used its iron sand to launch spears at Shizune, forcing Chiyo to pull her back.

'This isn't working. I need to throw him off balance.' Shizune thought as she looked at Chiyo. The elder woman nodded and slacked the strings on Shizune's arms, allowing her to use her jutsu.

"**Earth style: stone shackles jutsu!**" Shizune called out as the ground around the puppet began to churn and swirl before it moved and wrapped itself around the puppet. The earth hardened and the former sand kage was immobilized. Sasori's eyes narrowed at the move and saw Shizune moving to destroy the puppet before it could be freed.

"It won't be that simple." Sasori stated as iron sand began to leak from the stone imprisoning his puppet. It soon broke through the jutsu and sent a lance of iron sand directly at Shizune.

Chiyo pulled her back. The puppet opened its mouth and a wave of iron sand flowed towards the duo. It would be impossible to block it all. Chiyo quickly pulled Shizune behind her and held out her right arm. Her arm opened up and a chakra shield appeared in front of them, blocking the iron sand.

"So you also turned a part of your body into that of a puppet. As to be expected from one of the best puppet master's to ever emerge from the Sand village." Sasori stated as Chiyo and Shizune appeared unharmed behind the shield. When the sand attack ended, Chiyo dropped her shield, however, when she tried to close her puppet arm, she found it unresponsive. She looked down and saw that some of the sand was clogging the joints of her puppet arm.

"The iron sand is a very useful tool. Even should you block of dodge, it can still stop a puppet in its tracks by immobilizing its joints." Sasori stated calmly as he observed the slightly worn out women. They both were reaching their limits and he would take full advantage of it.

"Any ideas?" Shizune asked the elder woman.

"As long as the third kazekage is present then I can use none of my puppets." Chiyo stated sourly.

"Then I will take it out." Shizune stated with a fire in her eyes. Chiyo looked a bit surprised that the grim situation didn't seem to bother Shizune one bit. She recognized it as the one thing that made the leaf the strongest of the hidden village. An inner strength that dwelled within all of their shinobi that refused to accept defeat or give up. "The Will of Fire" they called it. Chiyo had always scoffed at the idea but the passion in the eyes of both Naruto and Shizune gave her much to think about.

"What do you have in mind?" Chiyo asked while she took deep breaths. She was feeling her age and it irritated her. Shizuen turned to her and began to tell her the plan. Sasori was not one to wait and sent the third and his iron javelins at them.

Shizune was sent forward towards the third Kazekage, never flinching as she ducked, dodged,, and spun around the sharp iron sand weapons that were coming for her. Being Tsunade's apprentice had taught her everything she had learned about medic ninja and the most important lesson was that as the medic, her survival and safety came above all other as she was responsible from keeping her teammates alive. Thus Tsunade had taught her to dodge and avoid almost any attack coming towards her. She had her eyes opened during her fight with Kabuto and Jugo and she knew that she had a long way to go before she was at Tsunade's level. Thus she had trained extensively over the past three years to further develop her skills and was truly a jonin to fear.

She was able to make it through the spears but was shocked to see a large rectangular column of iron coming towards her. She lashed out and punched the column away from her. This left her side vulnerable and she turned to see a giant triangular pyramid coming towards her side with a wickedly sharp blade. She spun and kicked out, catching the pyramid in the side and sending it spinning away. She turned back toward her target and felt a sharp pain in her chest and looked down to see a long spear that had pierced her through her chest. She grabbed onto the spear that was coming out of the puppet's mouth and pulled it towards her. She lashed out and struck the third kazekage dead on with all of her remaining strength. The puppet shattered to pieces at the same time that shizune fell to the ground.

Chiyo was at her side immediately and began healing the woman. She was very worried. Not only did she have to worry about the wound but also the poison as well. She quickly injected Shizune with one of the last remaining syringes and slowly attempted to pull the spear of iron from her chest. It was a nearly suicidal move but Shizune felt it was the only thing they could do. As a medic, she knew what was and wasn't a killing blow. She had left herself open intentionally to draw Sasori off balance.

"That was my favorite puppet. I guess I will have to replace him with the two of you." Sasori stated angrily as the blades on his hips began to spin and form two spinning metal discs. Chiyo's eyes narrowed in thought. She was far from completely healing Shizune and she couldn't save her and fight as well. She was in trouble.

Sasori took to the air and flew towards his grandmother, seeking her death. However, he was stopped and found that he couldn't move.

"**Shadow possession success.**" Shikamaru stated.

Sasori knew full well what had happened and was not to allow himself to be beaten so easily. While his body wasn't able to move, that did nothing to stop the weapons he had installed in himself. The coil of metal in his stomach began to unwind and the metal spike at the end of the metal rope flew towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru was forced to break the hold and ducked under the coil of metal. Choji grabbed the weapon that was coming towards his friend and pulled Sasori toward them. Asuma charged his trench knives and went towards Sasori, attempting to end him. However, Sasori held his open palms towards them and twin jets of fire spewed forth from the pipe in each hand. Team ten was forced to scatter from the approaching flames and all were surprised to see that the fire was hot enough that it melted through the stone wall that was behind them.

"Ino, help Chiyo with Shizune. Shikamaru, Choji, your both with me." Asuma stated as they prepared themselves. Ino nodded and rushed towards her fallen ally. Ino, like many of the young female ninja, had received medical training from the new program that Tsunade had implemented. While she was nowhere near Shizune or even Sakura's level, she was still a proficient medic and began to help Chiyo remove the piece of metal sticking through the dark haired jonin's chest.

"I take it you did that to my girlfriend. I'll show you the same mercy you showed her." Asuma stated darkly as Shikamaru and Choji joined him.

"More and more insects keep popping up to challenge me. I think it's time to show you just how powerless you truly are." Sasori stated as the compartment on the right side of his chest opened up.

"It's can't be!" Chiyo stated in a soft but terrified tone.

"What is it?" Ino asked as she continued to keep Shizune's vitals steady.

"**Red secret technique: Performance of a hundred puppets!**" Sasori shouted as he pulled out one of the scrolls from his back and opened it. More than a hundred chakra strings emerged from the right compartment on his chest and attached to the massive number of puppets that were summoned from his scroll.

"Bear witness to the technique that allowed me to conquer an entire country on my own." Sasori stated with a sick smirk as all of the puppets brought out deadly sharp weapons that were all coated in his poison.

"Well, this is troublesome." Shikamaru said as Sasori sent his puppets after them all seeking to end the battle in one fell swoop.

**(Naruto)**

Deidara watched the giant bonfire with a satisfied smirk. He couldn't wait to see the look on everyone else's face when he showed up with the kyuubi container. Itachi and Kisame would be so upset!

'I should probably make sure that I didn't blow him to pieces.' Deidara thought as he walked towards the crater that was still smoldering. He stopped when he felt something on his ankle. He looked down and saw a red chakra hand clutching his foot.

"**Is that all you've got?**" he heard before he was pulled into the air by the hand and pulled through the smoke and flame. He saw that Naruto was once again unharmed from his attack and not only that, but the blonde ninja had grown another tail of chakra bringing the total number to three. He was even more feral looking than before. His teeth were turning into long fangs, he had black markings around his lips and eyes, and his hair had grown out a bit and was whipping around widely from the massive amounts of chakra surrounding him.

Naruto brought Deidara to him and slammed his knee into the blonde Akatsuki's sternum. Deidara spat up blood and spit as he felt something break. Naruto whipped the man through a tree and rushed after him. Deidara pulled himself to his feet only to be slammed back down from a vicious kick to the back of the head. He rolled and avoided a follow up blow that cracked the ground.

'I don't have enough clay left to finish this fight. I need to do something or this will go badly for me.' Deidara thought as he attempted to avoid many of Naruto's strikes. However, Naruto was much faster than before and it was all Deidara could do not to lose his head. The only thing saving him was that Naruto was acting more animalistic and thus his attack was lacking in form. Still, it more than made up for it in power as Naruto slammed a crimson covered fist into Deidara's chest. Deidara was sent skidding to the ground and grabbed a small amount of clay. The clay went into one of the strange mouths on Deidara's hand and was formed into a bird. He poured chakra into the bird and jumped on its back as it grew in size. He took to the air just as Naruto flew underneath him.

"**Rasengan!**" Naruto shouted as a purple orb of chakra appeared in his hand.

Deidara was confused as to what Naruto planned to do with the attack until he saw the crimson chakra had grabbed the ball of condensed chakra and flew towards him. Not being ready for such a move, the rasengan hit his bird in the chest and shredded it immediately. Deidara looked down at the evil smiling boy and knew he had to do something quickly if he wanted to avoid death. Before he could make a move, however, he found himself wrapped up in incredibly strong spider silk.

"**Aburame style: spider entrapment.**"

Naruto turned and saw Shino moving from behind the tree across from him. Shino had Gaara's body over his shoulder and looked no worse for wear aside from a few bruises.

"But how?" Deidara questioned angrily.

"I placed a wall of insects between us and the explosion before it went off. The concussive force was still enough to knock me out but both of us are alright, for the moment." Shino said, referring to Gaara's health decline.

"Better late than never Shino." Naruto said as he began to allow Kyuubi's chakra to return to the seal. Naruto fell to one knee in exhaustion immediately and Shino quickly went to finish off Deidara.

"This isn't over by a long shot." Deidara stated as his body began to expand and push away the silky strands.

"You won't be able to break through those." Shino stated as his insects began to crawl on Deidara.

"Wasn't trying to." Deidara said with a wide smile. Shino turned to Naruto in fear.

"Naruto this is a clone and it is about to explode!" Shino yelled as he and Naruto turned to run from the coming explosion.

"Run as far as you like. You won't escape the beauty if my art!" The clone shouted as it exploded in a giant fireball erupted from behind them and grew in size at Shino and Naruto attempted to outrun the coming dome of death.

'We're not going to make it!' Naruto thought darkly as he watched the wall of flame approach them.

'**You know what you have to do boy.**' Naruto heard Kyuubi say to him.

'I'm already past my limit.' Naruto replied back to the fox.

'**Extreme pain or death kit, you choose.**' The fox replied simply.

'Fine.' Naruto thought as he stopped and turns to face the oncoming fire ball.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Shino yelled as he stopped as well. Shino saw the look in Naruto's eyes and asked a simple question.

"How long?" the aburame asked his teammate.

"About five minutes." Naruto stated as the wall of falmes came ever closer.

"Can you handle it?" Shino asked in concern.

"I'll have to if we're to survive." Naruto stated as he closed his eyes and began to draw upon the power of the demon within him. Naruto once again summoned up the red chakra cloak with one tail and looked at the destructive force that was coming towards them.

Naruto charged the demonic chakra into his hands as high as he could and Shino jumped behind him. As the flames came to them Naruto held out his hands and began to block them. He grit his teeth as he forced more and more chakra into his hands and continued to block the flames. He fell to one knee as the sheer amount of force needed to keep the flames from killing all three of them and Naruto felt his control slipping.

Having the Kyuubi inside of him had quite a few benefits. As the fox was a demon of fire, it was naturally immune to any type of fire attack. This is why most of Deidara's explosives didn't work on Naruto while using the fox's power. While the force behind the explosion could still hurt him, the flames themselves would do nothing as long as he was surrounded by the fox's power. However, that same rule didn't apply to Shino and thus Naruto had to actively keep the flames from roasting both Shino and Gaara. At the same time, Naruto felt the delicate control he held over the fox's power begin to wane as his body began to experience intense pain from the prolonged use of demonic chakra.

Naruto could feel the flames coming ever closer and the strain of keeping it back was becoming too much for him. Just as he was about to fall, he felt the force of the flames begin to ebb until finally they ended all together. Naruto dropped the fox's cloak immediately and then closed his eyes as he felt the wave of absolute agony begin to overtake him.

'Oh joy. I get to fell this again.' Naruto thought before the pain hit him like a train and knocked him into blessed unconsciousness.

**(Team ten)**

The allied ninja were hard pressed to do more than attack and dodge. Against such a numerically superior enemy, the konoha ninja were fighting for their lives purely by instinct. Even Shikamaru was forced to simply continue using his shadow sewing technique to skewer as many puppets as he could while dodging the rest. If he could just get a moment to rest, he might be able to think of something.

Asuma was busy smashing and slicing through all the puppets that were around him. He had little time to use fire jutsu as they gave him no time to perform them and he was limited to taijutsu. He was also aware that for every puppet that was destroyed, the remaining ones grew harder to defeat. He attributed this to the fact that with fewer puppets, Sasori's attention was sharper and he was better able to coordinate his troops. Asuma ducked under the sword of one puppet and slashed it in half only to immediately substitute himself with the broke puppet to avoid taking a spear to the back. It was quickly becoming a war of attrition and they were in a bad position to win such a situation.

Chiyo and Ino were still focusing on saving Shizune and Choi was standing before them like a determined giant, not allowing any of the puppets to get past him and his new weapon, a kanabo. Choji wielded the metal studded club with ferocious efficiency and destroyed any puppets coming for either Chiyo or his girlfriend. His armor was invaluable as he was able to deflect most of the attacks coming for him and then retaliate with crushing force.

"Girl, the lance is removed, finish healing her while I help our comrades." Chiyo stated as Ino nodded in agreement. Ino's abilities left her at a severe disadvantage against such an opponent and the best she could do was watch over Shizune and keep her stable.

"**White Secret Technique: Ten puppet collection of Chikamatsu.**" Chiyo called out as she summoned her ten special puppets. All the puppets wore white cloaks and were created by the inventor of the puppet technique, Monzaemon Chikamatsu. With them, Chiyo had destroyed an entire castle alone and they were her most powerful puppets.

Chiyo sent her puppets to attack the horde that Sasori sent for them. Her puppets showed their superiority but destroyed groves of the opposing puppets. They were able to accomplish this because Chiyo used them together in coordinated attacks. It was a case of quantity versus quality and her puppets were tearing through Sasori's puppets. However, with every destroyed puppet, Sasori's remaining ones grew stronger and they began to overwhelm Chiyo's. Unlike his, with every one of her puppets destroyed, the others became sluggish and not as powerful. Soon she had lost all of her puppets to the superior number of Sasori's. However, she had bought team ten all the time they needed to regroup and given Shikamaru the time he needed to make a strategy.

"Choji make a path now!" Shikamaru called out to his friend.

"Right! **Spiked Human Bullet tank!**" Choji called out as his long brown hair spiked out and he grew in size and rolled towards Sasori. Moving at such speed and having the protection of his spiky hair which was a strong and sharp as steel, protected Choji from the poisoned blades of Sasori's puppets. He tore through them with ease.

Seeing him coming, Sasori shot twin jets of water out of the pipes in his hands. The water pressure was so great that Choji was sent flying back and sent through the cave wall to land painfully outside of the cave.

Asuma and Shikamaru ran through the hole opened by Choji and attacked Sasori together. Asuma attempted to slash Sasori but the Akatsuki was very nimble and was able to avoid most of Asuma's attacks. He sent his puppets to attack him but Shikamaru was using his shadow techniques to destroy any puppet that got close leaving it a one on one battle. Sasori brought his hands up and unleashed a torrent of water at the leaf jonin. Asuma substituted with a broken puppet and slashed through one of Sasori's arms.

"**Wind style: wind blade!**" Asumas called out as he slashed with both his trench knives and sent two wind blades at Sasori. The red haired puppet sent his spinning blades to intercept and narrowed his eyes when the wind blades sliced through his own. He shot the coiled spike out of his stomach compartment at Asuma but a black shadow came and wrapped itself around the coil and traveled down until it wrapped around Sasori, immobilizing him.

"Do it now Asuma-sensei!" Shikamaru shouted as Asuma proceeded to send multiple wind blades through the puppet body of Sasori, shredding him into pieces that fell to the ground. All of the remaining puppets immediately stopped and fell to the ground and the allied ninja all took a breath of relief at the end of the battle.

Asuma and Shikamaru limped over to Ino, who held the still unconscious Choji in her arms. Chiyo walked over to the two konoha ninja and made sure that they hadn't gotten any of Sasori's poison in them. Seeing that they were alright, if not more than a little tired from their battles, she walked over to the broken pile of wood that had at one point been her grandson.

'Have you finally found peace Sasori?' She thought as she looked at the remains. However, something was missing. In a human puppet there was always some piece that was still human, which allowed them to use chakra. She had known that the cylindrical object in his left compartment was what remained of his human body but it was gone.

'Where did it go?' Chiyo thought before she turned and saw a subtle shadow hover over Shizune's prone form. Team ten were all together am assuring one another that they were alright, none of them saw a puppet replica of Sasori rise behind Shizune's body and stab down with a blade aimed for her heart.

Team ten all turned when they heard movement and were shocked to see two puppets holding Sasori in what looked to be a large hug. The puppets were the first Sasori had ever created, made in the image of his deceased parents. They both had blades going through the cylinder that held his human remains and the look on Sasori's face was both shocked and content.

"You kept them all these years?" Sasori asked softly to Chiyo, the one who had deployed them against him at the last moment.

"They were your first and I wanted to return them to you one day." Chiyo stated softly with tears in her eyes. No matter what he had done, he was still her grandson and she would always remember his kind smiles and loving attitude towards life before they were so cruelly ripped away by war.

"Thank you grandmother." Sasori stated softly as his eyes closed and he stopped moving.

"Is it over?" Ino asked in a soft tone.

"It is. Now we just have to hope that your loud mouthed teammate was able to rescue Gaara before it's too late." Chiyo stated as she wiped her eyes.

"I'm a bit surprised that you saved her life. Not that I'm complaining but don't you hate her master, Tsuande-sama?" Asuma asked as he picked Shizune up in his arms.

"I do indeed hate the slug princess, however, that doesn't mean that I don't respect her and her skill. Besides, it didn't do it for her but for the woman you hold in your arms. There is something in her that I see in all of you konoha ninja." Chiyo stated as she sealed the puppets that looked liked Sasori's parents and laid his body on the ground.

"Naruto doesn't have it in him to fail." Shikamaru muttered to himself. As he prayed that Naruto and Shino were able to rescue Gaara in time.

**(Naruto's mindscape)**

'That hurts just as much as I remember.' Naruto thought as he found himself not in front of Kyuubi's cage but in the white plane that connected him with his dragon summons. The brown orb representing Tatsuo floated up to him.

"**It's time for that favor boy.**" He stated shortly and with amusement.

'I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this.' Naruto thought.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 7. Hoped you liked it and everthing will be wrapped up next chapter, as well as the introduction of what happened on team eight's failed mission.**

**What is Tatsuo going to ask of Naruto? What were he and the fox discussing when he overused it's power? Will Gaara live or die? That is a secret!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**(Naruto's mindscape)**

"Fine, what do you want?" Naruto said simply. He was a man of his word and wanted to get it over with.

"**My request is simply this. The next time you go into battle, you are not to use the power of the dragons or that of the Kyuubi.**" Tatsuo stated calmly.

"What? Why not?" Naruto seethed.

"**I want to see what you are capable of without assistance boy. These last few battles have been won with our aid. Be a man and stand on your own two feet for a while and act under your own power.**" Tatsuo stated with a bit of irritation in his voice.

"And if I am faced with an opponent that I can't defeat with my own strength alone?" Naruto asked angrily.

"**Then you either run or think of something. You've had it easy boy. How many other ninja have a fraction of the power you do? If you get into trouble you can simply call on our divine chakra or the fox's demonic chakra to get you out of danger. However, that is a crutch that you need to learn to live without.**" Tatsuo stated as he began to float away from Naruto and the blond felt himself waking up. He could already feel the pain from his body beginning to build and shouted one last question to the dragon lord of earth.

"And if I should refuse?" He asked.

"**Then I will see to it that the sword is removed from your possession and given to another. Don't overestimate yourself boy. While you are currently the best candidate to wield its strength, there are many in the world that can be called on to take over for you.**" Tatsuo stated in a tone that told Naruto that the conversation was over.

'Just great.' Naruto thought as he left the mindscape.

**(Suna Hospital)**

Naruto groaned in pain as he regained consciousness. The reason for this intense pain was simple. Over the past three years, Naruto had been trying to find a balance between his demonic and divine chakra. His original time limit for using one over the other was around two minutes at best. However, he had been able to figure out a way around that with the help of Jiraiya. The toad sage had been able to construct a special seal that would force either chakra out of his system temporarily.

What this meant was that when Naruto chose to use either the demonic or divine chakra, the seal would activate and suppress the flow of whichever one he wasn't using. This allowed him to not have to worry about the two chakras mixing and causing him damage. However, there were drawbacks for using this seal. The major one was that once the seal activated it couldn't be reversed, thus when Naruto used one chakra he was stuck with using it for the rest of the day until the seal reset itself and even then, he should wait at least a day or two for the seal to slowly allow the restrained chakra to flow once again. Should Naruto attempt to force the opposing chakra through the seal, like he had done earlier, then he would experience severe pain as the two chakras mixed and began to damage his body. Jiraiya warned him about this and told him that the damage that was caused by the two chakras clashing weakened his chakra coils and there would come a day that his entire chakra system collapsed. This would either kill him or at the very least, insure that he would never be a ninja again.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly and noticed that he was in a hospital. He quickly sat up to find out how long he had been unconscious and what had happened to Gaara. However, he moved to quickly and soon fell back onto the bed in pain.

"Naruto-kun, you need to take it easy." Naruto smiled softly as Hinata appeared at his side. It was obvious that she had been watching over him until he awoke.

"What happened?" He asked her as she got him a glass of water.

"Shino alerted us to your location and we found all of you injured. Chiyo-sama immediately went to work on Gaara and was able to save his life." Hinata said happily, knowing that he would be overjoyed by the statement.

"Gaara made it? That's great news." Naruto said as he attempted to sit up, only to once again fall back in pain. He began to sweat from the pain until he felt warmth begin to flood his body. He looked up and saw that Hinata was channeling her power into him to sooth him of his pain. He still didn't understand exactly how she was able to accomplish this but really couldn't care less at the moment. Naruto raised his hand and cupped her cheek and guided her into a kiss. Now that he knew that Gaara was going to be okay, he was going to allow his weary body to relax and he couldn't think of a better way than with the woman he loved.

Hinata climbed into the bed with him, never releasing his lips until she kneeled over him. She looked into his deep blue eyes and felt the flames of arousal course through her. Naruto was not immune to this either and pulled her down into another kiss. He loved the way that her body fit so perfectly with his own. He never wanted her out of his arms. Naruto began to place small kisses and nips on Hinata's smooth neck and smirked a bit at the moans that accompanied the action. Naruto felt his desire for Hinata rise along with another part of his anatomy. Hinata blushed at feeling just how much he wanted her. However, she was also aware that he was still in pain and decided to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

Hinata placed her hands on Naruto's cheeks and began to slowly rub his whisker marks. She knew how sensitive they were, at least when she rubbed them, and smiled as Naruto closed his eyes at the feeling. She kissed him again and began to channel her chakra into his body, soothing him of his pain while expressing her love at the same time.

"I love you." Naruto stated softly as he broke the kiss and looked into her lavender eyes.

"As I do you Naruto-kun." She replied happily. She loved when he expressed himself to her so openly. Naruto wore his emotions on his sleeve and she always knew that she was loved and cared for by the blonde.

Naruto allowed himself to enjoy being with Hinata. With all of the hectic things going on in his life, she was his one constant, his anchor that kept him grounded. He needed to get stronger not only to protect her but his entire village as well. The Akatsuki were on the move and it wouldn't be long before they came after him for the Kyuubi. This made him a bit worried about his next battle. If he were to run into Itachi or Kisame and not be allowed to use the fox's power or the power of the dragons then he was all but sure that he would be defeated and captured.

"You're thinking too much Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly as she ran her hands through his hair. She knew that he would share what was bothering him in time and she would wait patiently for him to do so. Hinata was saddened by the burdens that were always weighing Naruto down. Peaceful moments such as this were few and far between and they had to make the most of it.

Hinata took it upon herself to quiet his thoughts by once again rubbing his whisker marks and allowing her powers to flow into him. He would still be out of commission for a few more hours until the seal Jirayia placed on him once again restored balance between the warring chakras in his body. Until then, she was content with staying with him and enjoying a rare moment of peace.

Naruto tried to relax once again but he found himself focusing on the pleasant sensation of Hinata's body against his own. He felt himself beginning to grow warmer from the thoughts of her, in his opinion, perfect body and he found relaxing a bit difficult.

'**You should take her kit.**'

'Shut up.' Naruto automatically responded to the fox's suggestion.

'**Come on! I feel what you feel and I know just how badly you want your mate. Just imagine it boy. Her smooth supple skin under your hands. Those beautiful eyes glazed over in passion.**' Kyuubi stated with a wide smirk as he noticed how his container was reacting to his words.

Naruto's mind tried to ignore the fox's words. This wasn't the first time that the fox tried to get his container to get some action with his girlfriend and it wouldn't be the last. However, his body began to betray him as his hormones began to respond to the mental imagery the fox was sending him. He was after all a seventeen year old male with the love of his life sharing the same bed as him. It was understandable that just this once, he acted on the fox's words.

Hinata was about to drift to sleep when she felt Naruto's hands roaming along her back. She looked up into his eyes and saw the swirling emotions there. She was about to ask him if something was wrong when he placed a hand behind her head and pulled her into a heated kiss. Hinata was momentarily surprised but all too accepting of the sign of affection and began to respond in kind. Naruto's hands weren't idle. His right was still holding the back of her head, feeling the silkily blue locks of her hair. His left hand was playing with the hem of the short sleeve shirt she was wearing. The hand slowly moved under the shirt to lie against the smooth skin of Hinata's toned abdomen.

Hinata felt her arousal spike once again at the feeling of his skin on hers and desired more. Naruto was surprised when she broke the kiss and instead pulled off his shirt to admire his muscled chest. There were a few scars from his many battles but those only heightened her desire for him. He was a warrior who was not afraid to take pain and face death for those he loved and sought to protect. Hinata began to slowly trace her fingers along his chest, giving a small smile at the way his chest would twitch from the feather soft motions. She bent down to place a kiss over his heart as well as over the two seals on his stomach.

The first was the seal that held the fox within his body and the second was the seal that he and Jiraiya had been able to create. It was in the fashion of a long black serpentine dragon that was wrapping itself around the Fourth's original seal. Hinata did this to thank both the dragons as well as the Kyuubi for their aiding Naruto in battle so many times. Naruto may not have a great relationship with either of the ancient beasts but he couldn't deny that they had saved his life more times than he could count.

Hinata's next kiss was placed right over his heart and Naruto wrapped his arms around her trying to pull her back into a kiss, but Hinata resisted. Naruto gave her a confused look and his breath caught in his throat when he saw Hinata grab the bottom of her shirt and pull it over her head. Hinata was blushing furiously at being naked from the waste up save for her bra and Naruto noted, on some level that was still able to process information with Hinata sitting half naked on top of him, that her whole body seemed to turn a light shade of pink. Naruto marveled at her milky white skin as well as the intricate markings that were due to her angelic powers. He began to trace the symbols and loved the sounds she made from his warm hands moving lightly along her body.

She wore a dark blue bra that cradled her impressive bust and Naruto's eyes were glued to the two bountiful swells of flesh before him. Hinata had never been so bold before but the assurance that Naruto saw her as the epitome of beauty helped her keep eye contact with him. Naruto brought her down in a kiss and both gave a small moan at the feeling of their bare chests touching. One of Naruto's hands cupped her firm rump, causing another delicious moan to leave Hinata's captured mouth.

'**See what happens when you finally listen to me brat?**' Kyuubi stated smugly.

Naruto ignored the fox as he was happily occupied showering Hinata's face and neck with kisses. Naruto sucked at the point where her neck met her shoulder leaving a red mark. Hinata, not to be out done, began to do the same to Naruto. Naruto gave a small growl in appreciation and brought his hand up to cup her bra clad breast.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata said in a low sultry tone that all but undid Naruto's fleeting self control. A million thoughts began to race through his mind, but his body was still seemingly unaffected by his minds confliction. Hinata sat back and looked down at Naruto as he continued to knead her breast. She felt her nipples hardening under his soft touch and closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation. She didn't want him to stop, and she also wanted more. She grabbed his hand to stop him and lowered it. Seeing his confused expression she gave him a smile as she reached behind her to remove the garment.

They both turned when they heard someone knock at the door. Stifling a curse, Naruto pulled his shirt on as Hinata did the same. Both were sweating from the excitement and glared at the suna medic that came through the door to check on Naruto.

The poor woman had no idea why Hinata was looking at her as if she desperately wanted to rip her head off or why Naruto growled softly at her.

A few miles away at the home of the sand siblings, Temari and Shikamaru were relaxing on the roof, enjoying the sunset.

"Much as I hate to admit it, your village's sunsets trump my own." Shikamaru stated to Temari who was laying her head on his shoulder as she too enjoyed the view. The shadow user turned to look at her when she didn't answer and wasn't all that surprised to see a very peaceful, yet tired, expression n her face. She had been worrying herself sick about the rescue team and had almost broken down in relief when they brought Gaara back alive.

"Thank you." Temari said once again.

"I already promised that I would bring him back troublesome woman. You really need to have more faith in my word." Shikamaru stated in a bored tone. Temari had thanked him at least ten times for returning her brother to her.

"Besides, Naruto did most of the work and now he's paying the price for it." Shikamaru said with a sad look on his face at the pain that his teammate was going through.

"He's got so much power, yet it comes at a high price." Temari observed.

"Still if anyone can deal with it it's Naruto." Shikamaru said as he decided that they had thought about depressing topics for long enough. He just wanted to enjoy the evening as he knew that soon enough, they would leave for Konoha to give their report. He wouldn't see Temari for another month and he wanted to enjoy the time he had with her.

The two of them stayed silent and enjoyed the sunset with one another.

**(Two days later)**

"I can't thank you enough my friend." Gaara stated as he, Temari, and a number of other high officials were at the gates to see the Konoha ninja off. Naruto and Shizune were not yet one hundred percent but they were well enough to travel.

"Don't worry about it Gaara. We're friends and that's means that we do whatever we can to help one another." The blond chunin replied with a smile.

Chiyo looked on as Gaara and Naruto spoke as equals and friends. She still couldn't help but marvel at the sight. Even at the best of times she could only remember allies being one step above enemies that always looked for something to exploit and take advantage of their "friends". Watching Gaara and Naruto, she felt like she was looking at a new age where bonds were formed between two individuals and were stronger than steel. Could it be possible that their villages could in fact remain allies not only through treaties or incentives, but through the simplest of bonds, friendship? She wanted to scoff at the idea, but the things she saw during the past mission made her think.

'Naruto Uzumaki. The container of the Kyuubi. You like all demon container before you are considered to be human weapons. However, instead to repaying hatred and distrust in kind, you instead seek to find happiness and to have all others like you to experience it as well. What drives you seek peace in a world that knows only pain and death? I will have to keep my eye on you boy.' The sand elder thought. Naruto had changed her thinking by his ability to save Gaara, despite severe pain and injury to himself.

"So they got Shukaku?" Naruto asked as he wasn't sure about that single detail.

"Its consciousness and a majority of its power are gone. However, I still possess some of its strength." Gaara stated as he commanded a wisp of sand to latch onto Naruto's arm and lifted it to clasp his own in a handshake.

"Good to hear. Next time though, try not to let yourself get captured oh great Kazekage-sama." Naruto said with a sarcastic tone and smirk.

"I will see to it that that never happens future Hokage." Gaara stated in a completely serious tone.

"Try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone lazy." Temari said as she gave Shikamaru a long, deep kiss, much to his embarrassment and the outcry of a few sand jonin whom were still smitten with the blonde beauty.

"Troublesome woman." Shikamaru stated with a smirk, ignoring the glares being sent his way.

"It's time to go everyone. Kazekage-sama by your leave." Asuma stated with a small bow that was followed by the others, even Naruto.

"Please rise. It is I who owe my life to you and your village. You have my deepest gratitude my friends." Gaara stated as he bowed to them. All of the surrounding sand ninja bowed as well.

"See you later Gaara." Naruto called out as they were traveling through the village gates.

'As much as I am happy that we saved Gaara, the fact remains that the Akatsuki got the one tailed beast. Though we took out Sasori, I doubt they are going to leave that position empty. The only question is where will they strike next and who are we going to face?" Naruto thought as Hinata walked by his side and held his hand. Sensing his deep thoughts, she sought to lighten his mood.

'Oh well, how bad could it be?' Naruto thought.

**(Akatsuki hideout)**

"Poor Sasori-senpai." Deidara said as he looked at the defeated puppet master.

"He wanted to die." Said a figure that appeared out of the ground.

"And how do you know that Zetsu?" Deidara questioned the monstrous man.

Zetsu was truly a strange creature. His face was split in half with half his face a stark white and the other a pitch black color. Stranger still was the large venus flytrap that his head was inside of.

"I watched the whole thing. He hesitated right as he was about to be struck." The white half answered. This was another thing strange about Zetsu. Both halves of his body had a different personality and they talked independently of one another.

"What a shame, and I was never able to prove that my style of art was the best, hn." Deidara said with a hint of sadness. As much as they argued, he truly had a deep respect for the puppet master.

"It matters not. We already have his replacement ready and he will serve our purposes quite nicely." The black half of Zetsu said as he pulled off the akatsuki ring from Sasori's body.

"Oh, and just who has the leader decided to pair me up with?" Deidara asked Zetsu.

"Someone that has a history with the Kyuubi container and his team." Zetsu stated as he sank into the ground and disappeared.

"Someone with a history tied to the Kyuubi container. This could be interesting, hn." Deidara said to himself as he brought out a giant clay bird to fly to the meeting spot.

A few miles away, Zetsu emerged from the ground to address the figure dressed in the standard black robe with red clouds and straw hat.

"I was told to deliver this to you." The white Zetsu stated as he held out Sasori's ring.

The man said nothing as he grabbed the ring and placed it on his finger.

"The leader has ordered you to wait for Deidara, and then make your way towards the last known location of the six tailed container." Zetsu said. The man once again said nothing as he began to walk past Zetsu.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" The black half of Zetsu's face asked as he moved to grab the man's arm. Zetsu immediately brought his hand back as an aura appeared around the man. He never turned to look at the strange looking ninja as he continued on his way.

'What was that?' both halves of Zetsu wondered as they decided to wait for Deidara and tell him to follow his new and strange partner.

**(Konoha)**

"I'm glad to hear that the mission was a success. However, Akatsuki is one step closer to their goal and we still have no idea what that is." Tsunade said to the group of ninja in front of her.

"I doesn't matter all that much. They still need to get the kyuubi before they can complete their plan and I say bring it on." Naruto said with a fire in his eyes.

"Don't get cocky Naru-chan. They had the guts to walk into the sand village and kidnap their Kazekage in front of them all. This either shows overconfidence or a deep understanding of their own strength and the weaknesses of their targets." The female kage said as she leaned back in her chair to rub her temple.

"Go and get some rest. You've all earned it." Tsunade said as the group of ninja in front of her bowed and walked out.

'What is your end game? What do you have planned?' Tsunade thought as she wondered about the deadly organization that had the gall to attack a hidden village and take off with their kage. The sheer audacity of it was shocking. Were they truly that powerful? And if so, then how much longer did they have before they found themselves under assault from the dangerous group who were determined to steal her son away and take his life.

Naruto walked into his apartment and collapsed on his couch. He was worn out completely and needed rest. Having back to back missions that consumed ridiculous amounts of his chakra bore down on him and he allowed himself a moment of peace. However, it wasn't long before Tatsuo's _request_ came to the forefront of his mind.

'So I'm not allowed to use either your power or theirs in my next battle.' Naruto said to the demon residing within him.

'**So it seems kit. I must admit that I am also curious as to what you would accomplish.**' The fox replied.

'You doubt my skill? I've tried my hardest to refrain from overusing either power. It wouldn't do to become to dependant on them.' Naruto replied back.

'**Agreed. However, that old lizard seems to be testing you. I find it hilarious that they seem to give you a harder time than I and I'm the demon!**' Kyuubi said with an echoing laughter.

"Glad your amused." Naruto said out load as he heard a knock at his door. He truly didn't feel like getting up but he knew that it could be important. Naruto staggered over to the door just as it was kicked open, hitting him in the face.

"What's up little brother!" Anko shouted as she stormed into his apartment with Iruka in tow.

"Anko-chan, I think you knocked him out." Iruka stated calmly at the twitching blond on the ground.

"Well if he would have gotten the door quicker than that wouldn't have happened now would it?" The purple haired jonin asked her husband. Iruka shook his head and he helped Naruto up and laid the unconscious chunin on the sofa.

When Naruto finally awoke from his impromptu nap, he smiled at seeing his older brother and sister before him. He hadn't been able to see with them for a while as their schedules never seemed to match. Either he was on a mission or they were.

Both looked about the same as they always had except for a few differences. Iruka now wore a jonin jacket after being convinced by both Anko and Naruto that he could handle the responsibility. What they didn't know was that Iruka had made a vow to become stronger so that he could save both Anko and Naruto should they ever be invaded again.

Anko now wore a button up shirt that always had the top two undone so that everyone could catch a small amount of her cleavage. When asked why she changed from the body mesh that left her mostly uncovered, she simply stated that only one man now had a right to see her "assets" and that was Iruka. She also wore a tighter, but slightly longer skirt as well. She still had her headband around her forehead and her signature trench coat.

"Nice to see you both." Naruto said as he took on a more relaxed position on the couch.

"I heard that you saved the Kazekage. Not bad for someone who used to be a loud mouthed runt." Anko teased. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the older woman and they both turned to Iruka who was laughing at their situation.

"So have you banged Hinata yet?" Anko asked. Both Iruka and Naruto turned a bright red and Naruto quite loudly told her where to stick her line of questioning.

"Calm down Naruto. You know that Anko is teasing you." He stated. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that Naruto wouldn't meet his gaze and was still blushing.

"What's with the look? Don't tell me you already discovered one of the great things about being an adult have you?" Anko asked in a somewhat more serious tone.

"Let's drop it." Naruto muttered. Both jonin looked at one another and nodded to one another.

"So tell me about the mission." Iruka said, changing the topic. Naruto smiled gratefully and told them about what had happened, only leaving out Tatsuo's request/order and the state of his seal.

"Glad everything worked out." Anko said with a soft smile that only a few were allowed to see.

"Unlike last time." Naruto said darkly.

Iruka and Anko once again turned to one another and silently wondered who was going to bring up the question that had been bothering them for a while now.

"Naruto what happed on that mission?" Iruka asked softly. It was something that all of team eight's friends and comrades had been wondering about. They had only come back from one mission in failure and the state that it had left them in was truly shocking. No one but team eight knew what had happened as they refused to answer any questions. Even Tsunade was only given the barest of explanations before they refused to divulge more. Even now, they saw Naruto flinch and look away from them.

Naruto was inwardly warring with himself on whether or not he should tell them what had happened. He, Shino, and Hinata had agreed to never really speak about what happened, but it was a very heavy burden and with everything else happening in his life, he felt the need to divulge what had happened to his family. He felt like telling Tsunade but felt that he wouldn't be able to make it through the entire story in front of his mother figure. Iruka and Anko were the next best ones and while he would tell Tsunade eventually, he decided to go with his gut and finally reveal to his siblings what had happened.

"Alright, but this is a long story so get comfortable." Naruto said. He noticed their shock and a small smirk appeared on his face before it disappeared. There would be little to smirk about soon enough.

"It all started when we were given a simple assignment. We were to escort a young girl back to her village and protect her from anyone that wanted to kidnap or kill her." Naruto said as he got lost in his painful memories.

**(Flashback)**

It was a simple enough mission in team eight's opinion. A small neighboring country had requested that the leaf village send a team with the leader's daughter to escort her back, just in case someone were to try and kidnap the young girl for ransom.

Team eight was instantly taken with the small bundle of joy that couldn't be any older than eight years old. She had been traveling under the guise of a civilian so that she could see what it was like in one of the five great hidden villages. Her bodyguards, were constantly losing the girl as she had a knack for slipping through their fingers and going off on her own.

"Hello, my name is Saya!" The little girl stated with a bright and innocent smile. She had short black hair and expressive blue eyes. Team eight was instantly enamored with the small child as she was able to get even Shino to smile.

As the team left the village, they entertained the small girl with stories and Naruto happily acted out a few parts, causing not only Saya, but Hinata to laugh at his antics.

The country wasn't more than two days away and they took their time as they sensed no danger and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere that surrounded that girl. She was a bundle of sunshine and had unlimited energy. She reminded Hinata of a younger Naruto and both she and Naruto were thinking about the possibility of their own child possibly looking and acting like Saya one day.

"Naruto-nii-san, Hinata-nee-san, Shino-nii-san, will I be able to visit you and play some more?" Saya asked cutely one night before they would arrive at her country.

"Of course you can. It would be our honor to show you more of what Konoha has to offer." Shino said as he patted her on the head. She smiled and began to play with a few butterflies that Shino called from the surrounding forest. Saya slept with Hinata at night and snuggled into the older woman's chest contentedly.

The first sign that something was wrong occurred when Hinata was once again using her byakugan to check the surrounding area. They would be at the village soon and she was taking one last look around. Hinata gave a small gasp as she focused her byakugan in a particular location.

"What is it Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked as he was instantly on alert. He watched Hinata as a look of confusion spread across her face. She deactivated her byakugan with a shake of her head.

"It's nothing." She replied though she didn't look like she believed herself. Naruto turned to Shino but the Aburame seemed to be deep in thought.

"I sense nothing as well." Shino said quietly.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Naruto asked.

"No Naruto-kun, just as Shino can sense nothing, so my byakugan is showing me absolutely nothing in terms of animals in the surrounding area." Hinata said darkly. For the forest life to vanish, something was definitely up.

"What do you suggest?" Naruto asked his two teammates. He pulled Saya behind him protectively.

"We continue on. I sense nothing malevolent so far." Shino said as Hinata nodded as well. Shino was still a bit uneasy as he knew that the only time so many animals evacuated an area, it was because they sensed the coming of great danger.

The team carried on and while Saya seemed to get over the threat team eight was still on high alert. As they neared the country's entrance, they relaxed as they saw nothing out of the ordinary. Saya's mother was standing there waiting for her daughter with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you for returning her." She said as she pulled her daughter into a hug.

"It was our pleasure." Naruto said with a smile as he allowed himself to fully relax. Saya was safe and whatever had been wrong before obviously was nothing.

"I can't wait to visit you all again. I'll see you soon nii-san, nee-san!" Saya called out to the members of team eight.

"Why don't you all stay the night? There's no need to rush back. It's the least we could do." Saya's mother said with a kind smile. Team eight took her up on her offer and remained in the country for the night. They enjoyed themselves as guests of honor and played with Saya and the other children until it was time for sleep.

The next morning, Team eight said their farewells to the country men and women and Saya as well. Naruto knelt down and promised the small girl that they would see her again soon. Saya hugged both he and Hinata and shyly offered Shino a present. It was a picture that had been taken the night before with team eight and Saya being held in Shino's arms. She said that since Naruto had Hinata and he seemed to be lonely, he could have the picture to always cheer him up. He thanked her, though he did tell her about Haku and how much he cared for her. As team eight left they completely forgot about the lack of animals in the forest.

This was a grievous mistake that would haunt them for the rest of their days.

Shino caught it first. He stopped completely and turned towards the direction they had come from.

"What's wrong Shino?" Naruto asked confused and Hianta turned as well and activated her byakugan. She gasped in horror at what she saw.

"The country is on fire!" She shouted. Naruto and Shino turned to her and all three raced back as swiftly as they could towards the home of the young girl that had captured their hearts.

They arrived to see the entire country ablaze. Every building was burning and the flames seemed to be spreading. They raced to see what had been the cause only to stop dead as they saw all of the bodies that littered the ground. All of the people they had just been with, laughed with, and celebrated with were dead. They searched the village for any survivors only to find that everyone, from the men, to the women, to the smallest children, had been slain. Most seemed to have been caught in the fire and whatever explosion had caused it as they were burnt almost beyond recognition. They found no sign of Saya nor her mother and their fear doubled as they ran out of bodies to check.

"Help." Naruto heard as he was running out of another burning building, only finding burnt bodies and more dead friends. He turned and saw a hand sticking out from under a pile of blackened corpses. Naruto called Shino and Hinata to his position and they moved the bodied out of the way to see Saya's mother at the bottom of the pile. She was injured and they knew there was nothing they could do from the look of the damage. She was literally covered in third degree burns. That she was still alive was something of a miracle.

"What happened here?"Naruto asked in an enraged tone.

"He came out of nowhere. He had no remorse, no soul. The others tried to protect me from his blast at the expense of their own lives. Please, save my daughter. He took her. I don't know why but please, find her and save her.' Saya's mother pleaded with them. She knew her time on this earth was past but her daughter still had so much to live for. She had her whole life ahead of her.

"We will." Shino said softly as they lowered the dying woman to the ground. Hinata ran her hands across the woman's head. She used her medical knowledge to shut down the pain receptors so that the woman could pass on painless.

"Save her….please…..save…her." The mother said as she closed her eyes and died.

Team eight said noting. Shino had long since given an insect to Saya as she was a precious person of his. He called on the location of the insect and turned to race with all the speed he had to her location. Naruto and Hinata followed unquestioning. Their faith in Shino was absolute. Besides, both were trying to deal with the grief and rage boiling within them.

'When I find out who did this, I'm going to make him pay ten-fold.' Naruto thought. Shino lead them hard and fast and fifteen minutes later, he stopped abruptly.

"What is it? Why did we stop?" Naruto called out to Shino.

"Something is wrong." Shino stated.

"Obviously Shino! Saya has been kidnapped and their all dead! We don't have time for you to state the obvious." Naruto shouted heatedly. Hinata gave him a stern look and he had the grace to look a bit contrite, but he didn't take his words back. They didn't have time to waste.

"We must be careful. Whoever is doing this must have found my insect somehow because I just lost contact with it." Shino said warily.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked his girlfriend. Hinata had the byakugan active and was looking around for any hint as to Saya's whereabouts.

"I don't see her." She stated angrily. Time was of the essence and they had to find her fast.

"Shino lead us in the last location your insect gave you before it died." Naruto ordered. Shino didn't reply as he still felt that something was off.

"Shino!" Naruto shouted, being in no mood for the Aburame's tendency to evaluate every alternative before making a move.

Shino nodded and began to move, though Hinata could see the underlining tension in her friend. He was not pleased with the situation but was even less so by Naruto's short temper. Shino was holding his tongue so teamwork didn't break down but she could tell that they would be having words later on.

'Hold on Saya, we're coming.' Hinata thought before her byakugan alerted her to danger.

"Get down!" Hinata shouted as she fell on her face and covered her head. Naruto and Shino unquestioningly did the same. A mere second later, a wave of flames passed over their heads. They looked up to see that the trees were already a blaze and it was spreading in a circle, surrounding them. The heat was nearly suffocating and all the members of team eight broke out in a sweat and were finding it difficult to take a deep breath with the amazing high heat coming from the flames.

"This isn't natural fire. What's going on?" Naruto wondered as a figure began to emerge from the wall of flames. Surprisingly he remained in the flames but didn't burn. It was as if the fire flowed across and through him, never causing any harm. They couldn't make out any discernable features except that it was a man by his build and stature.

"Who are you?" Naruto called out. The figure tilted his head a bit as if confused before the circle of fire collapsed inwards, incinerating anything within it. The man turned and walked away.

"Well, that was close." Hinata commented as team eight appeared in the treetops a few feet away. They had all performed the substitution technique to avoid death. They were all shocked by just how quick the flames approached.

"He's obviously the one controlling the fire and the one that ravaged the village." Shino stated grimly.

"But why? What was the purpose? Nothing was stolen except Saya. Everything else of any importance was left to burn." Hinata said confused.

"Let's go ask him." Naruto said as they followed the man. It wasn't difficult as he seemed to be in no rush. They didn't attack as they wanted to first see where he was keeping Saya. He walked silently until he walked into a nearby cave. Team eight stayed in the trees.

"I'm going in first!" Naruto said in a tone that dared anyone to question him.

"Hinata would be the better choice." Shino said in retort.

"I don't recall asking you Shino." Naruto snarled to the Aburame.

"And I don't recall needing your permission to speak." Shino said darkly.

"Enough both of you! We don't have time for this!" Hinata said hotly as she glared at both Naruto and Shino. Emotions were running high and they needed to move now!

"Let's go!" She said as she took point. Her byakugan would give her an advanced warning should something occur. They stopped when they heard the blood curdling scream that they recognized as Saya's.

"Saya!" Naruto shouted as they raced into the cave, and right into a den of horrors.

Team eight could only stare at the mutilated bodies that seemed to litter the cave. They recognized them as some of the country men and woman that they had believed to have been incinerated. They were stacked in the center of the cave and a bound and bleeding Saya was laid on top of them. She had tears in her eyes and the once beautifully innocent blue orbs were filled with unspeakable terror and pain. The man responsible was standing in front of Saya and hadn't even turned to acknowledge team eight yet.

"Get away from her! **Hidden Shadow Snakes!**" Naruto called out as the serpents flew from his sleeves to wrap around the enemy. Flames instantly erupted from his body and incinerated the snakes. The man finally turned and they looked into his deep red eyes that held no emotion at all. He was looking at them as if they were nothing important or dangerous.

'How did he do that?' Naruto thought as he pulled out his blade.

Suddenly, the entire cave became a furnace. Team eight were all driven to the knees as they found breathing in the cave all but impossible. It was if the very air was sapping them of all of their strength. They couldn't move. They needed to get out!

Surprisingly, Saya seemed to not be experiencing the same problem as they. The man was forming a bubble around the girl to keep her from suffering the same effects. He turned back to her to continue what he had been doing.

"Leave her alone you sick freak!" Naruto cried out as he began to draw upon Kyuubi's power. He was able to summon one tail of chakra and found that he could breathe a bit easier. However, the moment Naruto got to his feet, a wave of fire caught him in the chest and sent him shooting out of the cave to plow through a tree.

'Naruto-kun!' Hinata thought as he vision began to turn blurry. She was beginning to suffer from heat stroke and she knew that Shino was even worse off given his heavy clothing. She was close to passing out when she felt an arm wrap around both her. She looked up to see Naruto had run back in and grabbed both she and Shino. He turned to leave as another wall of fire came racing towards them. They exited the cave before the flames hit them and Hinata and Shino were able to take a deep breath of the cool air.

Naruto set his teammates down and raced back into the cave. He had called up a second tail of chakra to strengthen him and shot through the wall of fire and raced through the cave until he found himself before the madman and Saya. She was still alive and weeping in fear. Her eyes lit up when she saw Naruto with hope and he wasn't going to fail her.

"Let her go you sick freak." Naruto shouted as he ran through hand signs.

"No." was the only answer the man gave before the entire cave went up in an explosion of fire that sent Naruto flying backward through the air. Hinata and Shino were hit by the concussion wave and were blown away as well. When Naruto regained consciousness he struggled to his feet and found both Hinata and Shino close to one another, out cold. Naruto turned to the spot where the cave once stood on to see a giant crater. Naruto stumbled over to Hinata and Shino and were able to awaken them. They all stood shakily and could only look on at the last spot they saw Saya alive.

"Why did he do this? What was the point?" Hinata asked with tears running down her face.

"Because I can."

They all turned to see the man standing not three feet from them, Saya in his arms, and unharmed. Before they could make a move flames began to cover the young girl who screamed out in utter torment.

"Nee-san Nii-san help me!" She screamed before the flames finished their job and Saya was nothing more than a blackened husk.

Team eight couldn't believe their eyes. In a matter of seconds, a once beautiful and energetic girl was reduced to nothing more than a withered corpse. The once bright eyed, and loveable bundle of joy was cruelly taken away from the world by a man whose only reason was that he could. The man dropped the burnt body and began to walk away as if nothing had happened.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Naruto roared as he felt a rage ignite within him the likes of which he hadn't seen since Hinata had died. Naruto drew upon more and more of the fox's power until he reached four tails of chakra. Naruto lost all rational thought. The chakra was so powerful that it began to melt his skin away and his blood merged with the chakra to form a black cloak around his body. He was covered from head to toe and his eyes were nothing more and twin white orbs of madness and bloodlust. The beast roared to the heavens in fury and raced for the retreating man. However in a burst of fire, the man was gone. Being deprived of its prey, the beast turned its attention to the two remaining people in front of it.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked as she slowly approached.

"Hinata get back!" Shino shouted as he jumped between her and the beast.

"That's not Naruto, not anymore." Shino said softly as he eyes found the body of Saya. He felt a knife go through his gut at the sight but forced himself to keep his attention on Naruto. He wasn't sure what he was going to do should the beast attack but he had to keep Naruto from harming Hinata. Naruto would never forgive himself if he did something to her.

The beast waited no longer and struck.

**(End flashback)**

"I don't remember anything after I went into four tails of chakra but Hinata filled me in later on." Naruto said in a haunted tone.

"From what she told me, she was able to use one of her arrows to hit my sword. The divine chakra from both weapons was enough to combine with the first's necklace to repress Kyuubi's chakra. I was severely wounded form the chakra burning my skin and was unable to move for a few hours. Things didn't get much better at that time. We went and buried everyone, or at least what we could find. Putting Saya in the ground was probably one of the hardest things I'll ever have to do. It was then that Shino and I almost came to blows." Naruto said as he closed his eyes.

"What happened Naruto?" Iruka asked softly.

"We couldn't handle having failed Saya. Our emotions boiled over and I said something that I desperately wish I could take back." Naruto said just as softly.

**(Flashback)**

They had just finished burying Saya beside her mother. Naruto and Hinata couldn't keep the tears out of their eyes. It had taken every ounce of mental fortitude that they possessed to pick up her body and lay it in the ground. Naruto was sure of a few things.

First of all, he would never forget the smell of burning flesh that seemed to be soaked into their skin. He would never forget the horrified look on Saya's face as she cried out to him. And he would never, in his entire life, forget her desperate plea for help from him and his team.

Hinata was inconsolable and refused to let go of Naruto, clutching to him as if he was all that was keeping her sane. Shino said absolutely nothing. He hadn't uttered a word since Saya's death. Naruto was at first concerned, then irritated, and now he was angry. His self loathing and rage had yet to be truly released despite how much he cried. It was looking for an outlet and unfortunately, Shino was the target. It didn't help when Shino spoke for the first time.

"We should head back to the village and give the report." Shino said softly.

"Is that all you can think about right now?" Naruto shouted as he glared at his teammate.

"Nothing can be accomplished remaining here. We've done all we can do. It's time to leave." Shino said as he turned his gaze to Naruto and the blonde could easily feel the ire hidden behind Shino's shades.

"Well please excuse me if some of us would like a little time to mourn the senseless deaths that just took place." Naruto said hotly.

"Not everyone can allow their emotions to flow so freely Naruto." Shino replied.

"Maybe you should once in awhile. As it stands you're acting as unemotional as most people in Konoha believe you to be." Naruto said.

"Are you implying that I feel nothing for what has happened?" Shino asked in a tone that was both incredulous as well as angry. Shino walked right up to Naruto and the two stared long and hard at one another.

"And if I was?" Naruto growled back.

"Then you are not the friend I believed you to be." Shino said lowly, but with no less ire than he had started with. He turned on his heel and walked away, his insects buzzing so loud that the sound filled the entire forest.

Naruto turned to Hinata but the disappointed and angered expression on her face told him that he would receive no help from her. She felt that he was being overly cruel to Shino because he was a convenient target for his anger. She walked past Naruto without a word and went to talk to Shino. While they both knew that Naruto didn't mean what he said, it still didn't lessen the pain of the words themselves.

Naruto looked away to the grave of Saya and fell to his knees. He punched the ground repeatedly as his mind continually replayed her death to him. He should have done something. He was the only one in a position to help and he failed. He would eventually apologize to Shino as he knew that everything he said was completely untrue. However, he would first have to find a way to calm the erratic storm of emotions run rampant through his body.

**(End Flashback)**

"I heard that you two were a bit uneasy around one another after that mission." Anko said as she narrowed her eyes in contemplation.

"Yeah, it was my fault and I'm lucky that Shino forgave me." Naruto said with a sigh.

"Do you know anything about that man?" Iruka asked.

"The only thing I remember was his eyes. Deep pools of red that held within them an insanity that even caught Kyuubi's attention." Naruto said as he closed his eyes. He was emotionally exhausted from retelling his story.

"I do know that out of all of us, Shino is having the toughest time with it." Naruto said to the surprise of Iruka and Anko.

"Why do you say that?" Anko asked. She, like Iruka, believed that Shino was the most emotionally stable of the team because of his upraising.

"He never said anything after she died. Shino isn't one to hold his words about things, despite the fact that he only has a few words to express. I've never seen Shino not utter a word about something. I believe that while Hinata and I have dealt with it, Shino is far from reconciling that mission with himself yet." Naruto said as he decided to change the subject and began to ask them about what was new in their lives and when he could expect nieces and nephews.

**(Aburame Compound)**

Shino walked into his room after taking a bath to wash the dirt and grime from his body. He was glad that he had time to rest after the last mission and recharge. He closed his eyes and concentrated to focus on the butterflies that where his engagement gift to Haku. They told him that she was doing well and was happy with her family. Shino smiled at this information and could almost see Haku's beautiful smile and deep brown eyes. He knew that she would be in Konoha in a few days as the liaison for the mist village. He would wait for her and ensure that they spent as much time together as they could.

Shino walked to his dresser and pulled out a picture. It was the one from the mission showing Naruto, Hinata, and himself with Saya in his arms. Her beautiful smile and personality reminded him of Haku and her unquestioning acceptance of him had immediately endeared him to the young girl. Even now in his own village, children gave him a wide berth as they feared his insects and thought him creepy. Shino had been surprised that Saya had so easily accepted him and he still hadn't been able to deal with her death. That would only come with the death of the man that killed her.

Right before the man was able to leave, Shino had his insects imprint his scent and chakra signature to memory. He would find that man one day and he would kill him, only then could the Aburame forgive himself for failing Saya.

"We will meet again. And when that day happens, I will take you head." Shino vowed as he remembered the man with glowing red eyes.

**(Border of the fire Country)**

Deidara was upset at having to search for his new teammate. The weird man had left after receiving Sasori's ring and Zetsu had to tell Deidara this fact and told the blond missing nin to find him and bring him back. They had to search for the six tailed container. However once he met up with the man, the figure had simply continued on his way towards the fire country when Deidara asked why, the man sent a burst of flame at Deidara's head and continued walking.

"What a pain. At least Sasori-dono was fun to have a conversation with." Deidara said to himself as he flew above the figure. He knew that any moment now, they would come across a patrol and he didn't see the point in giving their position away.

"Halt!"

Deidara leapt from his bird before it was riddled with projectiles and dispersed. He looked on as a trio of chunin appeared in front of the two of them. Deidara wasn't worried about the chunins and he knew he could kill them easily, he was wondering what the purpose of casually strolling into the fire country was though.

"You are Akatsuki! Quickly send word to the Hokage. We'll stall them." The lead Chunin ordered to his teammates.

Before they could follow through with the order, they found themselves being unable to breath. The air around them had become stifling and they fell to their knees trying the draw cool air into their lungs. The man casually walked up and grabbed the two subordinate chunin by the face and instantly set them ablaze. Their cries of pain were short lived and the two blackened bodies fell to the ground.

"What power." Deidara muttered as he was just able to jump back enough to avoid being in the radius of the dome of super hot air that made breathing all but impossible.

The man walked in front of the chunin and grabbed him by the throat. He raised the man into the air and looked deeply into his eyes. The chunin was shocked by the burning sensation around his throat as well as the deep red eyes the man in front of him had. The man dropped the chunin and turned to walk away.

"Hey where are you going?' Deidara shouted as he duck under another wave of fire. Deidara mumbled under his breath in annoyance at his bipolar teammate and began to follow the man.

The chunin watched them walk away and the intense heat finally abated. He turned to his teammates and couldn't believe the ease at which the man turned them into nothing more than blackened corpses.

'I've got to report to the Hokage immediately!' He thought as he raced back to Konoha as fast as he could.

**(Cloud Village)**

"Is this information accurate?" Said a gruff tone.

"Hai, Raikage-sama." Said a cloud ninja who was kneeling before the leader of the cloud village.

"Send me team Samui. I have a request for the Hokage." The Raikage said as the ninja nodded and left to retrieve the team of jonin the Raikage had called for.

'So the leaf now has a treaty with the mist and sand village. How interesting. I think it's time I make a move.' The man thought with a grin.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 8! Sorry for the long wait, but this is my last semester in school and I have a lot on my table. **

**So you now know what happened on the mission. What is the story behind this sadistic man? How will he and Deidara coexist? What does the Raikage plan to do next chapter?**

**That is a secret! Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**(Konoha Gates)**

The two guards at the village gates were enjoying the peaceful day. Nothing of importance had yet happened and they were looking forward to a quite shift. However, this ended once they saw three figures approaching in the distance. It wasn't the group themselves that set the guards on edge. It was what they were wearing. Each of the coming figures wore a flak jacket that was standard wear for ninja from the hidden cloud village.

The woman leading the three man cell was very beautiful. She had blue eyes and straight blonde hair framing her face with a shorter cut in the back and the front bangs reaching her shoulders. She was fair skinned and had a tall stature and a bust that would give Tsunade a run for her money. She wore a very low cut outfit with mesh underneath, a short skirt, red hand guards, high combat boots and a modified flak jacket that fit her like a girdle. Lastly, there was a tanto strapped horizontally across her lower back.

The two behind her were of a much darker skin tone than their leader. The girl had long red hair and amber eyes. She wore a long sleeved dress complete with a Kumogakure flak jacket, purple stockings, boot with white soles, and wore her head band like a bandana. The young man had a skin tone as dark as the female and had short spiky white hair. He wore an overlong shirt with a hood, with red bandage hand guards, shin guards, and his forehead protector. Both of them had a long sword on their backs.

"Halt! What business does ninja from the Hidden cloud village have with us?" One of the leaf ninja asked in suspicion.

"We have been tasked with delivering a message to the Hokage from lord Raikage." The blonde woman stated coldly as she slowly pulled out the scroll and showed them her official orders. The leaf ninja inspected the document with the utmost scrutiny before slowly nodding to one another and allowing them entrance.

"Very well, however, under no circumstances are you to draw your weapons inside the village. Failure to comply with this demand will result in your immediate arrest. Follow me." The leaf ninja stated with a hint of steel in his voice. The red haired girl narrowed her eyes at the tone while her teammates seemed unaffected. The boy had a bored look on his face and the blonde made no reaction.

"Understod." The blonde woman replied in her own cold tone.

The three foreign ninja walked past the gates and walked into the village. They looked around a bit as they had never seen the inside of the hidden leaf village before. A few passing leaf ninja stopped at the strange sight as the cloud ninja had not set foot within their walls ever since the debacle years ago when they attempted to kidnap the Hyuga heiress under the shadow of a peace treaty. Their attempt had failed and the two villages had been only a step away from all out war until this very day.

"Well this is a bit annoying. Why do they all have to stare so much? It's not like we're going to do anything stupid. With my luck I'll probably run across a beautiful leaf kunoichi who'll fall in love with me. Next a jealousy leaf ninja will challenge me to a duel and I'll cause a war after I kill him." The young man stated in a dull tone. The blonde woman ignored his outrageous comment while the red head got an irritated look on her face.

"Shut your mouth Omoi! Nothing like that will ever happen especially to someone like you." She said in an angry tone.

"Don't get mad at me Karui. It's not my fault that you'll never be able to find a man with that flat chest of yours." The now named Omoi said to his teammate, calling attention to her lack of impressive assets like their leader.

"Unlike you Samui's breasts are so large that she still has back problems sometimes." Omoi added as a fire lit in Karui's eyes. She glared hard at Omoi and desperately wanted to knock his head into the ground.

"Enough both of you." The blonde leader, Samui said in a plain tone. She was used to their antics but this was neither the time nor the place for them.

The two cloud chunin shut their mouths and continued to follow Samui in silence.

**(Hinata's apartment)**

Hinata woke up to the rays of sunshine and smiled as she knew it was going to be a beautiful day. She rose from her bed and looked around her room. She had moved out of Kurenai's home once she made chunin. She still saw her teacher as an older sister but she knew that it was time to get a place of her own, especially with Kurenai's now husband, Kakashi, staying over more and more. The copy ninja and the genjutsu mistress had married a year ago and were always seen with one another. In fact, Tsunade had begun to send them on two person missions as they had yet to fail one and had picture perfect teamwork.

Hinata'a apartment was small but comfortable. She had beautiful flowers in the windows and pictures adorned her walls. Most were of her team and friends. Hinata smiled at one in particular as it showed Naruto and herself in their finest cloths. They had that one taken at a festival a few months back.

She turned as she heard a knock at her door. She quickly got dressed and opened the door to find herself face to face with an anbu.

"Hinata Yuhi, the Hokage needs to see you immediately. Your team is already being contacted and will meet you there." The female anbu stated as she disappeared in a swirl of leaves as soon as she was finished speaking.

'Again! It's only been two weeks since our last mission." Hinata thought grumpily. Actually, such a long break was rare, especially for a team as successful as team eight was. Still, they had all enjoyed the break and were well rested. She supposed that she had gotten used to the peace and was now getting back to the normal grind.

'I hope the Akatsuki aren't involved once again.' Hinata thought as she leapt on roof tops towards the Hokage's tower.

Hinata felt that something strange was happening as she passed by Shizune at the front desk. The black haired medic gave Hinata a look that was a mix of pity, anxiety, and fear. Hinata shook her head at the strange combination of emotions and knocked on Tsunade's door.

"Come in Hinata." She heard. She thought there was something strange about Tsunade's tone but once again ignored it and opened the door and entered, only to walk into Omoi. Hinata froze when she saw the head band that represented the hidden village in the clouds. She was truly speechless as she hadn't encountered a cloud ninja since the night they had attempted to kidnap her.

"You're not going to fall in love with me are you?" Omoi asked, wondering if his prediction was going to come true. He seemed to completely miss the fact that Hinata was wide eyed and hadn't moved since seeing his headband.

"Get away from her before I remove you myself!" Naruto snarled as he and Shino were revealed to already be in the office. They hadn't expected Hinata to freeze the way she had but it was to be expected after such a shock.

Omoi turned to look once again at the blonde leaf ninja, who up to this point had only been glaring at them silently. Karui was quickly annoyed by the look and would have said something had Samui not shut her up with a look. Omoi didn't really care what Naruto's problem was but he found it interesting that the leaf chunin had responded finally when the girl appeared.

'Is this the jealous ninja I'll have to fight when she falls for me?' He thought to himself, still pondering if Hinata's lack of movement was because she was captivated by his face. Regardless, he backed away when Naruto walked up to Hinata and slowly turned her head to look at him. She hadn't even blinked since entering the room. Naruto could see that she was lost in the painful memories of her past.

"Hinata-chan, look at me." Naruto said softly giving her a little shake. Hinata's eyes seemed to focus on Naruto and she eventually relaxed enough to nearly collapse into his arms. Naruto picked her up and walked out of the office. He slammed the door behind him.

"I apologize about that. She hadn't been properly briefed that you were here. I'm sure you can understand her reaction however." Shino said, in a tone that showed he really didn't enjoy having to apologize.

"It's perfectly fine. That was a shameful time in our history." Samui stated in her usual tone, her eyes never leaving Tsunade's.

The female kage looked at team Samui and wasn't sure how to feel. There was a lot of bad blood between their villages even if she disregarded the Hyuga incident. Her granduncle the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had been killed in the first great shinobi war by a group of cloud ninja known as the Kinkaku force. They were a team of the most powerful cloud ninja under the Raikage and were around twenty men strong. Tobirama and his team, one of which was Sarutobi himself, had been surrounded. Her granduncle had sacrificed himself so that his team could survive. Before rushing to his death, he made Sarutobi the third Hokage and told him to protect the village.

Tsunade could still remember crying herself to sleep at night as she had lost both her grandfather and granduncle to wars. She had developed a grudge against the cloud village and during the second great shinobi war, took great pleasure in sending as many as she could to a quick death. However, she had eventually realized that she was only causing more pain for herself as no matter how many she killed, it wouldn't bring her granduncle back. She had removed the hatred from her heart for the cloud village and now only looked upon them in suspicion because relations had remained strained between the two villages and now the Raikage had sent this team of highly skilled shinobi to deliver the message that he wanted a treaty with the leaf village.

This was a great piece of news for Tsunade. The cloud village had roughly the largest force of the five great villages. However, they had quantity over quality. The leaf had several bloodlines that had caused havoc for the village, hence why they had been so adamant about obtaining a blood limit for their own village.

Still, even with the Sand and Mist villages behind them, the leaf village would be outnumbered against a combined force of the Rock and Cloud villages. She was confident they would win should the remaining two villages decide to fight, however, the losses would be catastrophic. She was very pleased to hear that the Raikage wanted a peace treaty with them. If it could be believed.

"While I am happy to hear that our two villages could finally put the past behind us and finally sign a formal treaty I must ask. Why the sudden change of heart. Your village has been probing our defenses for the past few years trying to see if we are weak enough to attack." Tsunade said. She could see that Omoi and Karui were surprised by her bold statement. Tsunade wasn't one for politics and tip toeing around an issue. She met it head on with blunt statements.

"Very true. However, we hadn't found any to exploit yet." Samui stated calmly. Omoi and Karui nearly had a heart attack at hearing Samui actually confirm Tsuande's accusation. Samui always drilled into them that they should never give up information, for any reason. However, Samui could tell that to deny the statement would only strengthen Tsuande's suspicion of them and would make their job all the harder.

"After hearing about your treaties with the mist and sand villages, Raikage-sama feels that it would be unwise to seek any hostile confrontations between our villages. He wishes to establish, if nothing else, an agreement beyond the one currently in place." Samui continued.

'That wouldn't be too difficult.' Tsunade thought with a snort. The agreement between the two villages currently was only a step above open hostility like what the leaf's relations to the rock village was. Still, there was no trade or interaction between the two villages and the only time any ninja from one was allowed in the other village was during the chunin exams, or when the ninja were carrying a message directly from the Kage of their respective village.

Before they could continue, Naruto and Hinata walked into the room. Hinata still looked a bit pale and while she tried to put on a brave face, she was clutching Naruto's hand tightly. She refused to make eye contact with the cloud ninja. Naruto more than made up for this by sending them glares that once again rankled Karui and got a raised eyebrow from Omoi.

"While I understand and appreciate the Raikage's sentiments, I feel the need to ask why he wishes for team eight to accompany you back to the hidden cloud village to meet with him?" Tsunade asked, giving Naruto a look that to silence the hot headed young man.

Team eight hadn't been informed why they were present and it was obvious instantly why that was. Had they known, Naruto would have stormed into the office and tried to immediately veto the idea. Hinata looked up in shock at the Hokage's statement and while Shino didn't visibly respond, there was a faint bussing sound in the office. All of this was ignored by Samui.

"Raikage-sama wishes to meet the one who saved the Kazekage and is said to have the ability to summon dragons." Samui stated calmly.

"Still, his _request_ to see team eight is worded more like an ultimatum. If they don't go, then the treaty will be null and void. You can understand my suspicion and skepticism about allow my son's team, one of whom is a Hyuga to enter your village with no backup." Tsunade said, wanting to see how Samui handled the question. Up to this point, Samui had remained professional and her expression gave away nothing. She had been calm and respectful and Tsunade could see why she had been allowed to deliver this message.

"We were not aware that she was a Hyuga before seeing her today. Her legal name is Hinata Yuhi. It was our assumption that she was just another kunoichi. You have our word and the word of Raikage-sama that no harm will come to her or any of the others." Samui stated. She didn't so much as blink at the question.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes a bit at this. While that was extremely possible, she wasn't sure Samui was telling the whole truth. She still wasn't sure what to do. It would be perfect if they could iron out a treaty. It would all but end any possibility of a war as the rock village would never make a move alone, especially if the leaf had the backing of the other three major villages. It would be suicide. However, could she trust the Raikage? If they were attacked, then it didn't matter that Naruto had the Kyuubi or the dragons, eventually he would be killed by the sheer number of ninja coming at him. Hinata would be killed and her byakugan would be taken. Shino would be dissected so they could learn more about the Aburame clan.

Tsunade immediately stopped her train of thought. It was too painful an image and she knew that what would come of such a thing would be all out war. She would probably go mad with grief and seek to end the life of every man, woman, and child in the cloud village. The Mist and Sand villages would undoubtedly join the leaf and the cloud would soon be a thing of the past. It was this that made Tsunade feel a bit more secure about letting team eight go. The Raikage knew all this would happen just as she did so it was highly unlikely that he would so something so foolish.

'Still, can I chance it?' Tsunade thought. She was silent for a long time and Naruto watched her closely. There was no way he was going to allow Hinata to go on a mission to the cloud village. He didn't care what they said, he didn't trust them not to try something underhanded.

"Very well, team eight will accompany you back to your village. However, I demand that a pair of jonin go with them." Tsunade said as she once again glared at Naruto to keep him silent. It would look horrible for a ninja to show open disrespect to her, no matter his status. This was an extremely delicate situation and it could go bad very easily. Naruto picked up on this and held his tongue, barely. The look he gave her showed that she was in for an earful soon enough, though.

"This is acceptable. Raikage-sama thought you would suggest such a thing. He told me that you could send whoever would ease your fears." Samui said with a bow as she turned and had Omoi and Karui follow, though Karui and Naruto locked glares for a moment.

"You'll never get a man if you scare them all away." Omoi stated dully, breaking the stare off.

"Like I would want someone like him." Karui said with a snort, as the doors closed behind them.

"Exactly how much sake have you drunk today Kaa-san?" Naruto with a twitch in his eye.

"I don't want to hear it Naruto." Tsunade said, stopping Naruto's rant short. She only used his whole name when he was in big trouble or she was dead serious.

"If this happens then war is basically impossible. With a treaty with three of the other four hidden villages, we wouldn't have to worry about the rock village starting anything unless they want a rather one sided battle." Tsunade said.

"We had a treaty with the sand village and they still attacked during the chunin exams." Shino said, offering his own opinion.

"True but they suffered large ramifications for it. Breaking such a treaty made everyone else who traded with them suspicious on whether or not they would break their treaty with them at the drop of a hat. The Wind Daimyo didn't know about the attack and issued several severe punishments on the village. Cloud can't afford the same thing happening to them. Tsunade said, trying to ease their worries.

"I'm still not convinced. How do we know they won't try something underhanded?" Naruto asked as he looked to Hinata, whose gaze was locked on the floor.

"We don't. However, we can't pass this chance up." Tsunade said, though she didn't seem comfortable at all with the decision.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked wanting to know if she was okay. She had yet to raise her gaze from the floor and he was afraid that she had once again been lost in her memories. However, she surprised him by lifting her head and looking at both he and Tsunade with a determined gaze.

"I-I c-can do this." She said softly. Naruto frowned at the stutter, something she hadn't done in years. While she had a determined look on her face, Naruto could tell that her confidence was paper thin. She had yet to release his hand and the amount of pressure she was exerting should just how much fear she was hiding.

"Are you sure?" Shino asked in concern. This was the same situation they had faced when they had accepted the mission to the Mist village. However, there was one major exception. Haku's adoptive mother was the kage of that village and the Mist village wasn't openly hostile with the leaf at that time.

The Cloud village didn't despise the leaf like the hidden Rock village did, but they would certainly attack if given the opportunity to prove they were the mightiest of the five. Team eight would be walking into a hostile environment and it was all but assured that there was something underhanded in the Raikage's rather generous proposal for a treaty.

"I am. This is a great opportunity for our village and if it will assure that there will not be another shinobi war, then I will do my duty." Hinata said, this time her voice carrying her normal amount of force and confidence.

"If you're sure then please prepare yourselves and meet the cloud ninja at the village gates tomorrow morning." Tsunade said. She looked like she was having second thoughts but she could see that Naruto was holding Hinata firmly and she was leaning into him, drawing strength from his presence.

"We'll be fine Kaa-san. If they try something then you'll hear word of one of the five hidden villages being wiped off the map." Naruto said as they turned to leave. Tsunade watched them. Hinata was between Shino and Naruto, a position of protection. She wondered if this was such a good idea.

"Have faith in them hime." Tsunade turned to regard Jiraiya. He had been concealing his presence to observe the meeting.

"Do you think they can handle it?" Tsunade asked as Jiraiya walked behind her and began to massage her shoulders. Tsunade gave an appreciative groan as he tilted her head back and enjoyed his ministrations. Say what you want about the pervert but he knew his way around a woman's body, especially hers. Though his massage was more for comfort than anything else.

"Please our godson would level the whole place before they could even touch one hair on her pretty head." The toad age said with a smirk. Tsunade didn't return it.

"This isn't like the Mist village Jiraiya. They are going in blind as this time they don't have a guide that at least knows the layout of the village. They'll be reliant on their guides and that is just one disadvantage they'll be at." She said in concern.

"Do you want me to go with them?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, we are dependent on your spy network especially with all of the information you've been able to provide about the Akatsuki." Tsunade said.

"Are you sure it was wise not to tell them yet about the newest member?" Jiraya asked softly.

"I'll tell them later. However, they have enough on their mind right now. I don't know much about what happened to them on that mission but I do know that one thing they all agreed on was that they lost to a merciless red eyed man who controlled flames." Tsunade said as she was forced to bring her mind on depressing subjects once again.

"Just like the description the surviving chunin delivered." Jiraiya said as he kissed Tsunade's neck.

"Surviving isn't the right word. He was allowed to escape so that we would know that he is now a part of the Akatsuki." She said, even as she leaned into his touch.

"But why give such information away?" Jiraiya asked.

"I don't know. I can't understand what they are thinking about. Besides, why are you asking me? It's it your role to figure these things out oh great toad sage?" Tsunade teased. Jiraiya chuckled as he turned her chair around to kiss her on the lips.

Tsunade groaned in appreciation and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jiraiya put his years of experience to work and soon had Tsunade quite flustered. However, he took this moment to break the kiss and step out of her arms, ignoring her groan at the lack of contact.

"You're right Godaime-sama. I'll get right on that!" He said with a teasing smirk of his own as he jumped out the window.

Tsunade seethed at him before letting out a stress relieving laugh. Jiraiya always was able to get a laugh out of her and take her mind off her troubles. It was one more thing she loved about him.

'Stay safe.' Tsunade thought to team eight as she went back to her work.

**(That night)**

Hinata was lying in bed. She couldn't get to sleep, no matter how much she told herself she needed the rest for tomorrow. Her mind refused to stop moving a mile a minute. She was going to travel to the very village that had all but ruined her life!

Hinata's father, Hiashi, was not always so cold. Her earliest memories were of her mother and father. Her mother always had a warm and comforting smile on her face. Even Hiashi softened around his wife Hitomi. When she died, Hiashi had closed off from everyone. After the failed kidnapping by the cloud and his brother's sacrifice, Hiashi had turned into the cold, heartless figure that had tormented Hinata for the rest of her stay in the Hyuga clan. Hinata often wondered what would have happened if her uncle Hizashi hadn't been killed to keep peace between the two villages.

Still, none of this was helping her as she couldn't calm the storms raging in her mind. Despite what she told Tsunade and the others, she was terrified of going to that village for any reason. Hinata simply didn't know if she would be able to keep it together. She wondered if this is how Haku felt when they went to the Mist village. However, she knew that unlike Haku, Hinata would not be finding a familiar and caring face within the hidden cloud village, only reminders of what had happened and what could have been.

'I have to be strong. I can't let my team or my village down.' Hinata thought. Besides, she was sure that Naruto would be dead and buried before they touched a hair on her head. Hinata laid her head back on her pillow when she heard a knock at the door. She was confused as to who would be knocking at this time of night but opened her apartment door slightly to see Naruto. He was wearing a pair of orange and black stripped pajamas. The top was undone at the top Hinata found herself staring at his muscular chest.

"Are you going to let me in Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked with a smirk. He had caught her looking and was happy she found him appealing. He too was appreciating her night attire as she wore a long lavender nightie. It was modest but seemed to bring out the beauty of her pale skin. Hinata blushed under his scrutiny.

"I take it you can't sleep." Naruto said as he brought his mind back to the purpose of his visit.

"Hai. I know that sleep is important but I can't seem to relax. I'm very frightened Naruto-kun. I'm sorry." Hinata said as she looked away from him. Naruto gently grabbed her chin and brought her head up to look at him.

"Don't apologize. I'm sure this is difficult for you and I'm here. I'll be there every step of the way and I'll destroy that entire village before allowing them to touch you." Naruto said with a confident smile she loved ever since she had first seen it.

Hinata drew strength from his presence and embraced him. She laid her head on his chest and was comforted by the beat of his strong heart. In his arms she felt protected from all danger. Naruto enjoyed the warmth of her body. She was everything to him and the thought of her being uneasy and upset spurred him on to comfort her in any way he could. She made him more than he was and completed him in a way that was beyond words. Naruto pulled her head up to kiss her softly, enjoyed the feel of her soft lips.

"Just remember that I'm here and that I'll help you in any way you need." Naruto said as he broke the kiss and backed away. Hinata did not release him however and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Naruto-kun can I ask you a favor?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

"You know you can." He responded.

"Stay with me tonight." Hinata said looking deep into his eyes.

"You mean.."

"Yes sleep in my bed with me. I don't want to be alone tonight." She stated with a soft smile.

"Alright." Was all the blond ninja said in response.

Hinata took him by the hand and led him into her bedroom. Naruto laid down first and marveled at how much softer her bed was compared to his. Hinata snuggled against him and laid her head on his chest. She relaxed to his smell and the feeling of his body and soon enough was sound asleep, his presence quieting her mind. Naruto looked down at Hinata for some time after she drifted off to rest. He knew she was withholding a lot as she tried to hold herself together.

'Nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here.' Naruto thought as he relaxed and drifted off to sleep as well.

**(Village Gates)**

Team Samui waited at the gates for the Konoha ninja to arrive. Samui and Omoi were relaxed, while Karui was still steaming from yesterday.

"Who does that blond ninja think he is? Glaring at us like we did something wrong. He better watch himself." She raged.

"You're still on that? You haven't shut up about him all last night. I'm beginning to think that you have a thing for that leaf ninja." Omoi said in irritation.

"Shut your mouth Omoi before I shut it for you!" Karui stated, though Omoi couldn't tell whether the red flush on her brown skin was from anger or embarrassment.

"Quiet the both of you." Samui said in her usual tone.

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you with a man Samui. Something you want to tell us?" Omoi asked as he looked at the blonde leader. Samui narrowed her eyes at the brown skinned male and Omoi took that as a sign to shut up for once. Karui would occasionally hit him in anger but it was Samui that he feared.

"I still say you want that blonde kid Karui. Though, I don't know how you plan to compete with the Hyuga. She's actually got a bust to almost rival Samui's. You're still as flat as a board. He probably thinks you're a boy." He said.

Team eight walked up to see Karui trying to strangle the life out of Omoi. Samui looked at team eight as they approached and gave a slight nod of welcome. It was returned by Shino while Naruto and Hinata were still watching the remaining two cloud ninja fight.

"I wonder who Kaa-san will assign to us." Naruto wondered aloud. Hinata seemed more relaxed today as she too was watching Karui try to kill Omoi and seemed to have her fears under control.

"That would be us."

All of the present ninja turned to see two figures appear in a swirl of wind. Even Karui and Omoi stopped their antics at the arrival of two of Konoha's most well known jonin. Standing before them were Kakashi and Kurenai Hatake. The copy ninja and genjutsu mistress were very well known amongst the other hidden villages as the two man cell had been carrying out A and even S ranked missions to perfection for the past few years. It was rare that only two ninja were sent on these kinds of missions but with the reduced man force after the Sound-Sand invasion and Orochimaru's last stand, Tsuande was forced to rely more and more on under manned teams to carry out missions.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto said with a grin at seeing his old sensei again. Team eight hadn't worked with Kurenai for a long time and they missed the ruby eyed jonin. Naruto was also happy to see Kakashi. After learning about his father, Kakashi had become something of an uncle to the young ninja who like Jiraiya would tell him tales of his father and biological mother.

Kakashi wore the exact same cloths he normally did, a standard jonin outfit and his headband covering his sharingan eyes. The only difference was that he now kept his father's white light chakra saber across his back. The tanto had been fixed years ago and Kakashi had once again returned it to its previous reputation of being one of the most deadly blades in the word.

Kurenai wore a different outfit from what she had worn when she was the sensei of team eight. Kurenai now wore long white pants with red strips along the side. She wore a sleeveless white shirt with a blood red vest over it. She had wrapping that went from her wrists to her elbows and now wore two swords on her back. They were actually the repaired lightening fangs that once belonged to Raiga Kurosuki.

Kakashi had found the destroyed swords after Orochimaru's attack. He had them remade and had initially meant to keep them himself. However, he found that he really didn't like wielding the weapons and thus gave them to the Hokage to do with them as she saw fit. Tsunade, at that time, hadn't wanted to return them to the mist village as Yagura was still in control of the village. She had thus told Kakashi that he was to keep them until he found someone that could use them properly. Imagine his surprise when he realized that his wife possessed the lightening affinity like he. He had given them to her and watching her use the blades was like watching a well choreographed dance.

"Hello Naruto. It's good to see all of you again." Kurenai said with a smile as she looked at her young team. Truthfully, they were no longer her team as they had all reached the rank of chunin, but Kurenai would always remember them as team eight, her first and only team. She was very proud to see them excel and advance through the ranks quickly. For young chunin, they were some of the best in the village.

"It's is an honor and pleasure to meet the both of you Kakashi-san, Kurenai-san." Samui stated with a bow. She hadn't known that she would meet two of Konoha's most respected and powerful ninja and while she hid it well, their presence made her slightly uneasy.

"You guys must really not trust us to assign the copy ninja and genjutsu mistress of Konoha to accompany you." Omoi said to Naruto.

"Can you really blame us?" Naruto asked with a raised eye brow. Omoi didn't respond as he looked at Hinata. Naruto didn't like the white haired man's scrutiny of his girlfriend and stood in front of her to block his view. Karui looked as if she was going to say something before she was cut off.

"I believe it's time to head out." Kurenai said stiffly to the cloud team. Kurenai, was not happy at all about the mission and would be keeping a close eye on every cloud ninja they came into contact with. She trusted none of them around her little sister.

"Very well. Come it will be a long trip." Samui stated as she walked through the open gates. Omoi and Karui followed her immediately.

"Let's go, and keep on your guard." Kakashi said in a tone that told everyone he was completely serious. The combined Konoha team followed the cloud ninja out the gates, all with their minds focused on the mission at hand. It was a great opportunity for their village as well as lasting peace, however there were many questions left unanswered and they couldn't help but doubt the intentions of the cloud ninja.

**(Hidden Cloud Village)**

Kumogakure was located in a range of tall mountains. It was literally hidden in the clouds and was one of the hardest villages to attack because of its location and the natural cloud cover that was provided. The Konoha ninja along with team Samui came up to the gates of the village after traveling for a few days.

The trip to the village was largely uneventful. Karui and Naruto continued to rub each other the wrong way while Hinata tried to stay as far away from the cloud ninja as possible. Interestingly enough, Shino and Samui seemed to get along as they both were leaders of their teams and weren't big talkers. Of the chunin team, Samui seemed to favor Shino the most. Omoi continually looked at Hinata, trying to figure her out. He was sure that the girl was nervous around them and couldn't really blame her, still he wondered if there was something he could do to calm her down and show her that he wasn't that bad of a guy. That he also found her very beautiful was, in his mind, not an issue. Kakashi and Kurenai silently watched the group of ninja, looking for any signs of a double cross or deception. Finding none, both sought to reminisce with their young comrades and were able to ease the minds' of Naruto and Hinata.

"Please stay close. Our village is much different from your own." Samui stated as she entered the village with her team behind her.

Naruto turned to Hinata and could see that she had gone pale once again. Her eyes were glued to the gates and he wasn't sure that she would be able to walk through them alone. She surprised him once again with a show of strength and turned to give him a smile before being the first Konoha ninja to enter the gates of Kumogakure.

The konoha ninja were instantly surrounded by the everyday hustle and bustle of the cloud village. While there were venders selling and stores open, there was a definite difference between the two villages. To Naruto, it was as if the ninja and civilians had a wall between them. The ninja were given wide berths and respectful bows. The civilians didn't even seem brave enough to look them in the eyes. This was vastly different form the leaf village where ninja and civilians interacted regularly and no one was greater than the other.

Naruto saw a young girl run into a ninja and her face paled with fright as she immediately rose and bowed, apologizing profusely. Naruto frowned at this. It was as if the populace was slightly afraid of the ninja and that wasn't right in his opinion. A ninja's job was to serve and protect the civilians, yet it was as if their very presence put the villagers ill at ease.

"It is the way of this village. It was always the most militaristic." Kakashi said lowly to Naruto.

The konoha ninja were not being ignored however. As soon as they entered the newcomers were under heavy scrutiny from both the civilians as well as the cloud ninja. Hinata, especially was drawing a majority of the attention, something that didn't go unnoticed by the girl or her comrades. Naruto walked beside her and grabbed her hand. He could tell that she was deathly afraid and needed reassurance.

Despite all the attention they were receiving, there was no hint of killing intent or any looks that promised trouble. The people moved out of the way and allowed the foreign ninja to follow team Samui. As they approached the location of the Raikage's office, they were stunned by the structure he was in. the largest of the mountains had a large blue central structure and was easily identified as the place of operations by the most powerful man in the village. It was slightly intimidating, which was probably the purpose it served.

"Do not speak unless spoken to please." Samui stated as she and the others lead the way into the office of the cloud leader. The doors opened and Naruto found himself stunned by the figure sitting behind the desk.

The Raikage was a giant of a man. Like many residents in the village he had dark brown skin and slick backed white hair. He also had a small mustache and beard and he looked to be all muscle. He wore no shirt under his kage robe which allowed his hulking physique to be displayed for all to see. On each wrist he had gold bangle bracelets and he wore a gold belt that had a boar's face engraved into it. All in all, this man was a perfect representation of the village he led, strong, powerful, and unrelenting.

"I see the Hokage accepted my generous request for a treaty." The Raikage stated with a smirk. Samui and her team kneeled before their leader and the blond jonin didn't raise her eyes as she spoke to him.

"Our mission was successful Raikage-sama. However, Hokage-sama sent these two jonin as assurance that her ninja would return alive and well." She stated.

"Rise Samui you and your team don't need to bow to me." The Raikage stated as he took off his hat to better observe the ninja in front of him.

"The "Copy Ninja" Kakashi Hatake and the "Genjutsu Mistress" Kurenai Yuhi. I don't know if I'm impressed that she would think our village enough of a threat to send the two of you or insulted that she didn't send more. Does she really think that the two of you will be able to do anything if I had malicious intentions?" He asked rhetorically. Kakashi and Kurenai didn't respond, hiding their emotions, however Naruto began to seethe in anger at the man's tone.

"Hokage-sama very much would like a treaty with your village. However, you can understand that with the past between our villages, she wanted to err on the side of caution." Kakashi stated as he realized that the Raikage did indeed want an answer to his question.

"I guess your village isn't as weak and trusting as I had once thought." The Raikage stated once again. This again brought a twitch to Naruto's eye and it was only Hinata's iron tight grip on his hand that held his tongue. She was about to turn to give him a comforting smile when the Raikage's gaze turned to her.

Hinata froze under the powerful leader's stare. He seemed to be looking at something he wanted to possess and his smile sent ice through her veins.

"I guess I can understand her suspicion considering there is a Hyuga amongst you. Still it would be beneath me to attempt to steal your eyes girl. You don't need to fear that happening." He said as he stopped smiling and looked to the rest of the ninja.

"So which one of you is supposed to be able to summon and control the only beasts known to be able to fight on par with the bijuu?" The Raikage asked as he looked to both Naruto and Shino.

"That'd be me." Naruto said, holding the Raikage's gaze with fire in his eyes. The dark skinned man raised an eyebrow at the look on the teen. That was a look of someone who had something to say and desperately wanted to say it.

"You've got something you want to say to me boy?" He asked with a frown. Samui and her team tensed, waiting to see what would happen. This in effect made put the Konoha ninja on high alert and soon the tension in the room was thick enough to cut through.

"As a matter of fact I do." Naruto said. He ignored the warning look from Kakashi, Kurenai and Shino and released Hinata's hand. Naruto walked up to the Raikage and looked up at the towering man.

"You need to watch your mouth." Was the blonde chunin's statement.

All sound stopped in the office. Team Samui, as well as the konoha ninja were stunned speechless at the disrespectful and blunt words that had just come out of Naruto's mouth. To speak to one of the five kages in such a way was almost unheard of. To speak to the Raikage in such a way was suicidal. He was not a man known for his restraint or his forgiveness of disrespect.

"What did you just say boy?" The Raikage said in a deathly low tone. It was as if he was daring Naruto to repeat himself.

"You heard me. You've disrespected our village numerous times already and you expect me to sit here and take it? Don't get it confused, this treaty is more for your benefit than our own. You're only doing this because you know with the addition of the Mist and Sand villages, we now have the numerical and tactical advantage over you even if the hidden rock village were to back you up. So don't stand there and act like you're doing us a favor." Naruto said, never once faltering before the killing intent being directed his way by the Raikage.

Team Samui were all in disbelief. Even the cold and stoic Samui's eyes were as wide as saucers at the words being spoken to their leader. No one, absolutely no one spoke to him in such a way!

'That stupid kid is going to get himself killed, and then we'll have a war on our hands!' Omoi thought as he began to sweat.

'I hope Raikage-sama knocks his head off! How dare he disrespect our leader in such a way?' Karui thought.

'This could be problematic.' Were Samui's thoughts on the matter.

"You have some nerve talking to me in such a way brat. Do you know how I am?" The Raikage asked with a withering glare.

"A person that believes they are untouchable and that everyone should instantly give them respect. Respect is earned not freely given and if you continue to disrespect Konoha then I refuse to show you any in return." Naruto said even as he began to sweat under the glare and strength of the Raikage. He could tell in no uncertain terms, that the Raikage deserved his ranking and that he could probably kill Naruto with little effort if fully committed to ending the blond's life. Without the fox or the dragon's power, Naruto still wasn't a match for Kakashi and this man dwarfed Kakashi's strength easily.

Unexpectedly, the Raikage began to laugh. His booming laughter was confusing to all present especially Naruto. He thought that his outburst was going to cause a fight and eventually ruin any hope of a treaty being made. He was prepared to accept full responsibility for this though as he refused to allow anyone to speak lowly of his village.

"What's your name boy?" The Raikage asked after he was done laughing.

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto replied slowly, still not sure how to react.

"I like you boy. Normally I find people groveling at my feet or allowing me to call them everything under the sun as they feared my wrath. However, to stand up to me and defend the honor of your village even in the face of certain death you never faltered. I respect that boy." He said with a grin as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Umm thanks?" Naruto said relief coursing through his body. After his brave front was over, he felt his legs wobbling.

"If all Konoha ninja have your fire then maybe I'm wrong about your village." The Raikage stated.

"However, words are cheap. I respect power and strength, for that is the way in this village. I would like a demonstration of just how powerful you and your team are as well as the strength of your conviction." The Raikage stated as he smile left his face and he grew deathly serious.

"And how will we do that?" Naruto asked tightly, unsure what to expect.

"Through a show of strength. Prove to me the might of Konoha. I want you and your team to fight against a couple of ninja of my choice. If you win then I will sign this treaty immediately, no questions asked." The Raikage said as he went to sit behind his chair.

"And should we lose?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well if you win than you get something you want so if you lose I should get something I want to be fair, yes? Thus should you fail, I will still sign the treaty but only on one condition." The Raikage stated.

"Which is?" Naruto asked.

"Your Hyuga teammate will have to remain in the cloud village and marry one of my ninja." The Raikage replied with a nasty grin as he looked to Naruto and Hinata.

Hinata nearly fainted on the spot. Kurenai and Kakashi were both trying to object at the ludicrous request. Shino's insects were buzzing loudly, though he seemed to be deep in thought. Naruto summed it all up nicely.

"Not an option!" he roared loudly. He knew they had an underhanded reason to request a treaty. This was just another way for them to try and acquire the byakugan.

"Where's your resolve gone boy? I thought you konoha ninja were strong enough to handle us. And if this isn't enough to bring out your strongest conviction then nothing will. I want the best you've got and with her on the line I know I'll get it." The Raikage stated. Team Samui had been silent the entire time but now they had calculating looks on their faces, especially Omoi who was still looking at Hinata with definite interest.

"Raikage-sama, I must protest! We do not have the authority to promise such a thing to you. Only the Hokage could approve of such a thing especially if it deals with one of our most coveted kekkei genkais." Kakashi said, trying to be respectful. Kurenai wanted to say something but Kakashi was able to calm down his wife, barely.

"Win or lose you still get your treaty which is the main thing your Hokage wants. If we are well and truly allies then us acquiring a Hyuga and subsequently the byakugan will not affect you adversely as it will be considered an act of good will to us and we will even allow the Hyuga to be our ambassador to your village, thus she will be able to return to your village for at least a few weeks or months out of the year." The Raikage said, nullifying Kakashi's grievance. Kurenai, having had enough, stepped up to give her opinion.

"I'll do it."

Naruto turned in shock, as did the rest of the leaf ninja, as they heard Hinata's voice. She had once again been looking down at the floor and as soon as he released her hand to confront the Raikage, she had tensed immediately and was even shaking a little.

"Hinata-chan, you've got to be kidding me! There's no way I'm going to allow you to do this!" Naruto said in a definitive tone.

"It's not just your decision!" She shouted, silencing both Naruto and the other Konoha ninja as well. They were shocked first of all because she had just yelled, secondly because she had yelled at Naruto and lastly because she wasn't finished.

"I'm tired of being afraid and having to rely on you for strength Naruto-kun! I have to do this. I need to do this. Also, we won't fail." She said as she finally looked towards the Raikage. The cloud leader saw the same determination in her eyes as Naruto had a moment ago and felt his respect for this ninja increase.

"Then it is agreed. We accept your offer." Shino said as he stood next to Naruto and Hinata.

"All of us do." Kurenai said as she and Kakashi walked up to join them.

"I hope you have some powerful ninja in mind, because we're about to make them look weak." Naruto snarled as he finally realized that he was out voted. He was going to rip apart his opponent.

"As a matter of fact I do. Initially I was going to have you all fight the members of team Samui as they are one of my strongest and most reliable teams. However, I now have two empty slots to fill since there are five of you." The Raikage said with a grin as he whispered to his attendant. The woman left the office and came back a few minutes later.

"They are on the way Raikage-sama." She stated with a small bow.

"Who's coming?" Karui said for the first time. She had been eyeing Naruto ever since the Raikage had given his decision. She really wanted to fight the blonde and shut him up once and for all. She didn't like him and watching him stand up to her leader had made her want to pummel him into the ground even more.

"Your sensei." The Raikage said simply. Team Samui all grinned, which put the leaf ninja on edge. Why were they suddenly so confident? There was a knock at the door and the Raikage told them to come in.

Two cloud jonin entered the office. One was male and the other female. The female had straight blonde hair bound with taut bandages so as to keep it away from her face. She wore the Kumo forehead protector. She favored a tight black and white shirt. Her black pants were of standard shinobi style and her kunai holster was tied to her right thigh. Yugito also wore purple fingerless gloves. A long string of seemingly plain red beads are wound around her left arm. Bandages were also wound tight around her arms. She had a red sash tied around her waist.

The male was an interesting character. Like the Raikage, this man was a mountain of muscle and had brown skin. He had pale blond hair and a pale blond beard. On his right shoulder he had a seal and on his cheek was a tattoo of a bull's horns. He wore oval shaped sunglasses and a white-colored forehead protector. He also wore a white-colored one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket of a Kumogakure Jōnin, with a red rope tied around his waist, white hand-bands, and a white scarf around his neck. He carried seven swords on his back in various locations.

"What's up big bro? Me and Yugito were training, you know!" The man said with a rapping tone. All the leaf ninja sweat dropped at the man while the Raikage got an irritated look on his face.

"What have I told you about that stupid rapping, Killer bee?" He shouted as he shouted at his younger brother.

'They're related?' The konoha ninja thought in confusion.

'**Hey brat, these two have familiar scents about them.**' The Kyuubi said to Naruto over their mental link. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Sensei!" All of Team Samui said as they walked over to their teacher and bowed.

"It's good to see you all again. You're looking well." The blonde woman now known as Yugito said with a smile at the younger team.

"Yugito and my younger brother Killer Bee will be the remaining two fighters for our competition." The Raikage stated.

"A-sama, you wish us to fight these leaf ninja?" Yugito asked in respect. She eyed them all, but her gaze concentrated on Naruto. There was something about him that intrigued her.

"That is correct. Yugito, you will be fighting against Kakashi Hatake. Samui you will fight Kurenai yuhi. The aburame goes to you Omoi. And the Hyuga will be your opponent Karui." The Raikage, A, stated.

"With all due respect Raikage-sama, I was hoping to fight the blond." Karui said, disappointed that she wouldn't be able to pound the loud mouth chunin into the dirt.

"No Karui. He will fight my brother. I want him to fight the best we have to offer so that I can see his potential. Besides, one demon container should fight another." A said with a smirk at the surprised expressions on the faces of the Konoha ninja.

"Demon container?" Kurenai asked with wide eyes.

"My name is Yugito Nii, the container of the two tailed cat." The blonde jonin said with a smirk that should her elongated fangs.

"And last but not least, the names Killer Bee container of the eight tailed beast!" Killer Bee said with a grin of his own.

'**So that is who I sensed earlier. Without being able to use my power of that of the dragons, you've got your work cut out for you brat.**' Kyuubi said with a snicker. He was interested in seeing just how Naruto would deal with this.

'Well, that's just perfect.' Naruto thought grimly as he could feel the power radiating from the eight tailed container.

"So shall we get started?" A said as he stood once again. The Kumo ninja seemed very confident. However, the leaf shinobi showed no fear and followed them to the training field that they would be competing at.

'I will win, somehow.' Naruto thought as he clutched his blade. However, unlike usual, he felt no reassuring pulse from the blade. He was going into battle without any backup from the fox or the dragons. He was also going to be battling the container of the demon that was inferior only to the Kyuubi itself. Also, the life of Hinata was on the line. Should they fail, he would lose her forever.

They went to Killer Bee's house, which was in a secluded part of the village surrounded by mountains and had a lake in front of it. It would provide the best location and keep the rest of the village from worrying too much from feeling the powerful chakra signatures.

"So who's first?" A asked as he sat down on a chair overlooking the grounds.

"It would be my honor to fight first Raikage-sama." Samui stated as she stepped up in the middle of the field.

"Guess that means I'm up." Kurenai said tightly. She wasn't happy about this and was going to be sure to walk away victorious.

"Alright then. Let the first fight begin!" A shouted as Kurenai and Samui stared one another down. Two of the greatest kunoichi in their respective villages were about to find out who was superior.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 9! First and foremost I want to say my thoughts and prayers are for those suffering from the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. So many lives lost in such a short amount of time. It is devastating. **

**On a happier note this chapter is dedicated to Marchgirl as a belated birthday present! **

**So team eight along with Kakashi and Kurenai are in the hidden cloud village and have been put between a rock and a hard place. Who will be victorious? How will Naruto battle Killer Bee without the aid of Kyuubi or the dragons? **

**That is a secr…urk! (Pulled aside by Naruto)**

**Naruto: Enough already!**

**K123: Why did you stop me? I always end with my catchphrase!**

**Naruto: I'm sure I can speak with every one of your readers and say that I am thoroughly SICK of that line!**

**K123: You're an actor in my story! What right do you have to judge me?**

**Hinata: Maybe because you always seem to give us a hard time.**

**K123: When did you get here? And don't tell me you have a problem with my story as well!**

**Hinata: I followed this idiot when he left the party.**

**K123: What party?**

**Hinata: follow me.**

**(Follows Hinata and Naruto into a room filled with balloons, streamers, and an assortment of party food.)**

**K123: Who did all this and why?**

**Hinata: we decided to throw a party for ourselves to relax since you won't let us do it.**

**K123: Who's we?**

**(All the rookies and jonin senseis enter the room.)**

**Naruto: We need some down time. Every time we get a little rest in your story you have us go and get involved in another huge adventure that's probably going to end with me getting beat up! Why can't you be like VFSNAKE where I always get a super power up and beat everyone that gets in my way in the dirt! Those are awesome roles to play!**

**K123: You like him more than me?**

**Hinata: There are a lot of authors we like more than you. Marchgirl for one.**

**K123: Okay, any reason why?**

**Naruto: She's let us have sex already! What's your excuse!**

**Hinata: It's not like it was that great anyway Naruto.**

**Naruto: You wound me baby! You know you liked it.**

**Hinata: It gets a little irritating always having to fall in love head over heels in love with you and forgiving you for any and everything you do. That's one thing I like about KingKakashi and Marchgirl, they allow me to knock some sense into you when you start acting stupid.**

**K123: I've let you do that….**

**Hinata: Only twice and both times you really didn't allow me to mean it.**

**K123: Do the rest of you have something you want to say to me as well? (looks to the other characters in story)**

**Everyone: Yes!**

**K123: Fine then we'll get to that in later chapters but for now at least it's time to go. So my faithful reader, till next time**

**Everyone (in bored and dull tone): Kyuubi123 out. You say it all the time. Can't you think of something else?**

**K123 (head down in shame): Mutiny that's all this is.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**(Killer Bee's Home)**

Kurenai, wanting to get a feel for her opponent, took the offensive. Samui hadn't moved a muscle and waited for the leaf jonin to get close. She pulled out her tanto and slashed at Kurenai's face as soon as the genjutsu mistress was close enough. However, Kurenai earned her title as her body dissolved in a swirl of petals.

'Genjutsu? I didn't even see any handsigns.' Samui thought as she took a fist to the gut. She immediately dispelled the genjutsu and rolled on her shoulder to avoid a knee to the face. She righted herself instantly but had no time to do anything but avoid the kick aimed at her head.

Kurenai, having caught her opponent off guard, continued her assault. She swept Samui's legs from underneath her and pulled out a kunai to jab at the downed cloud ninja. Samui brought her tanto up and blocked the strike and made one handed signs.

"**Lightning style: lightning lance!**" She called out as she thrust her hand, palm out, at Kurenai's face. A bolt of lightning existed her palm and Kurenai did a back flip to avoid the strike.

"**Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!**" Kurenai called out as she launched a ball of flame at Samui. The cloud jonin took the hit dead on. Kurenai turned and ducked to avoid the strike Samui aimed for her head from behind. The cloud jonin had used a substitution to avoid the blow and tried to hit Kurenai in her blind spot.

Kurenai brought her kunai up to clash with Samui's tanto but the short sword began to glow with energy and cleaved through the kunai. Kurenai, momentarily surprised, took a fist to the cheek and a follow up kick to the chest. Kurenai landed on the giant lake in front of Killer Bee's house and took an assessment of her opponent.

'She is a lightning user, no surprise. However, her taijutsu is superb and there are few mistakes. Throughout the battle she has yet to show any discernable emotion so catching her off guard will be difficult. Lastly, she's holding back, that much I can tell.' Kurenai thought as Samui leapt into the air and created more hand signs.

"**Lightning style: Thunder ball!**" Samui called out as she shot a ball of condensed lightning chakra at Kurenai. Even if the ruby eyes jonin dodged the attack, the water she was standing on would conduct the electricity to her body, leaving her vulnerable. Samui sent a burst of chakra through her feet and began to fly down towards Kurenai.

'No choice.' Kurenai thought as she saw the attack coming. She reached behind her and grabbed the lightning fangs Kakashi had given her. Kurenai thrust one blade at the ball of lightning and as they struck, the attack began to shrink until it disappeared.

'What?' Samui thought as Kurenai pointed the same blade to her, suddenly a ball of electricity came from the tip of the sword and hit Samui dead on. The jonin cried out in pain as she fell under the water.

'If I hadn't been able to control these things than that would have gone differently.' Kurenai thought as she took a small moment to admire the swords that were considered to be some of the most powerful on the planet.

Kakashi had given them to her after he tried to give them to Tsuande. The Hokage had no use for them and didn't want to give them back to the Mist village at the time. Thus they were for Kakashi to keep and do with as he saw fit. Kurenai grabbed onto them one time and was surprised to feel a jolt of power run through her.

It turns out that Kurenai was so good at genjutsu because she had an above average affinity for lightning chakra. Genjutsu affected the brain and truthfully all of the five senses are sent through the brain to the body through electrical impulses. Without knowing it, Kurenai was using her lightning affinity to aid her in being the best genjutsu user in the village. When Kakashi found out he immediately began to teach her some of his jutsu as well as how to wield the blades she now held.

"The legendary blade Kiba. I thought those were in the possession of the Mist village?" The Raikage said as he turned to look at Kakashi. The copy ninja gave an eye smile as he shrugged lightly, there really was no reason to explain how they came into possession of the blades.

"Still, things are going to get very interesting now. Samui is a bit irritated." A added with a smirk.

"Kurenai-sensei is no push over and just because she's upset doesn't mean that she'll win." Naruto fired back.

"You don't know Samui brat. She's always so emotionless because she has to be. When she loses her temper, she is truly a force to be reckoned with." The Raikage said as Samui appeared in an eruption of water.

Kurenai raced off of the water as she doubted she was good enough with lightning chakra to fight a jonin born and raised in the cloud village on water. Her last attack only worked because Samui underestimated her. She looked at Samui and could feel a cold aura around the woman.

"Samui is pretty pissed. Sucks for your sensei." Karui said with a smile.

"Do you ever get tired of talking?" Naruto said irritably. He and Karui glared at one another and a bolt of lightning seemed to flash between their eyes.

"I don't think fighting him is the best way to show your affection Karui." Omoi stated dully. The red headed woman turned and decked her teammate to the ground.

"Shut up Omoi!" She screamed as her face was red once again.

As the two teammates once again began their usual antics, which consisted of Karui trying to strangle Omoi and the dark skinned man trying to avoid death from the fiery red head, Samui had rushed forward to attack.

Kurenai had the range advantage with her lightening fangs and slashed at the blonde jonin's chest and head. There was a streak of electricity in the wake of every slash form the blades, demonstrating their legendary cutting ability.

Samui twisted her body in the air and was able to dive between the two blades. She landed on her knees and sent a mule kick into Kurenai's sternum, stunning the leaf kunoichi with the limber and controlled movements. Kurenai quickly regained her composure and sent a burst of lightning chakra towards Samui through her blades.

Samui flipped back and quickly ran through hand signs for a favorite jutsu of hers.

"Oh she's going to pull that one out." Omoi said from the ground with Karui's foot on his back.

"She really must be going all out." Karui agreed as she promptly returned to literally stomping her teammate into the dirt.

"**Lightning style: Lightning dragon jutsu.**" The blond jonin called out as a giant dragon of electricity formed and flew towards Kurenai. The dragon devoured the lighting shot by the leaf kunoichi and continued on towards her.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto called out in worry when she didn't back up a step. Kurenai instead thrust both blades forward to meet the dragon head on. She grit her teeth as it made contact with her blades and was slowly being pushed back by its power.

'That's one of Samui's most powerful moves. I wonder if she can really hold it back entirely.' A thought to himself in interest.

'This won't beat me! I refuse to lose here and fail Hinata. She'll be married off to someone in this village over my dead body!' Kurenai snarled to herself as she held her ground and redirected the dragon into the air.

She wasn't able to take a breath before Samui was on her once again. She caught Kurenai across the face with a swift punch. Kurenai attempted to retaliate by stabbing forward with her left blade. In a show of extreme aerobics, Samui dodged and grabbed Kurenai's arm. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around the limb while keeping it straight against her. She twisted and forced Kurenai to the ground in a cross arm lock. She quickly gave a swift twist and dislocated Kurenai's left arm from its socket. Kurenai's cry of pain echoed across the lake as her arm became useless.

Samui flipped to her feet and grabbed the dropped lightning fang that fell from Kurenai's useless left hand. She stabbed down but was mildly surprised to see Kurenai disappear in a swirl of flower petals.

'Genjutsu. She was able to create one swiftly even with the pain she is in. She truly deserves the title of Genjutsu Mistress.' Samui thought dryly as vines began to wrap around her body. Having none of it, Samui immediately began to send a pulse of chakra to disrupt the illusion. However, before she was able to she felt one of the vines constrict her leg tightly enough to break her concentration.

Samui found herself soon wrapped completely in the vines and was unable to move. While she was well aware that this was simply a genjutsu and thus not real, that didn't change the fact that she was not be allowed the adequate amount of time necessary to break it. The vines would constantly and in differing intervals, constrict her to stop any attempt she tried to make.

Kurenai watched her captured opponent with a grimace. That had been one of her more powerful techniques, made specifically for those that were proficient in breaking genjutsus. It didn't matter that they knew they were captured. The genjutsu would continually break their concentration and leave them helpless. Still, she was in no shape to capitalize as wave of agony continued to wash over her from her dislocated shoulder. Kurenai stabbed her remaining blade into the ground and grabbed her left shoulder. With a muted grunt of pain, she snapped it back into place. The pain forced her to her knees but she quickly stood once again.

Samui was still frozen in place and the dazed look on her face told Kurenai that she had yet to break the genjutsu. It wasn't surprising as it was one of her stronger A rank ones. Kurenai grabbed her blade with her right hand as her left arm, while once again functional, was protesting any movement. She approached the frozen jonin and placed her blade to the blond's throat.

"I win." Kurenai stated.

"Do you?" Samui responded as she looked at Kurenai. Momentarily taken off guard at the now coherent jonin Kurenai was unable to react quickly enough before Samui slashed up with Kurenai's captured blade and knocked Kurenai's remaining blade away from her neck. She jumped back and prepared herself once again.

"How did you escape? I know that my genjutsu hadn't been broken." Kurenai asked in shock.

"I was unable to dispel the technique. However, I was able to send small pulses of lightning chakra through my system. It wasn't enough to full break the technique but I was able to gain small glimpses of the real world long enough to tell what you were planning. I allowed myself to remain in the genjutsu long enough for you to get close and then sent a large enough burst to disrupt it. The slight pressure of you blade to my throat was actually the catalyst I needed to concentrate. For that I thank you." Samui stated as she spoke more words than any of the konoha ninja had ever heard her speak before.

'She truly is an elite jonin.' Kakashi thought ideally from the sidelines. He was of course worried for his wife but recognized and respected Samui's abilities. That wasn't to say that Kurenai still didn't have a few tricks up her sleeve though.

"Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei can win right?" Naruto asked his uncle figure.

"Yes she can. However, this battle can go either way right now." Kakashi said with a serious look on his face.

"I want my sword back." Kurenai said as she eyed Samui critically.

"Then come and take it. I happen to think that it is in the hands of one who truly knows how to wield it though." Samui replied plainly. She saw the insult had hit home as Kurenai's expression darkened but the leaf jonin was not about to let her anger force her hand. She was far too well trained for that to happen.

The two women moved as one and locked blades. The legendary swords let out a cracking sound as their electric field crossed one another. Kurenai broke the lock and jumped back as she slammed the point of her sword into the ground. A burst of lightning exploded from the tip of the sword and kicked up a dust cloud. Samui brought her arm up to cover her mouth from the throat chocking dust and narrowed her eyes to avoid getting it in her eyes.

Kurenai capitalized and appeared in front of the cloud ninja with her sword slashing for Samui's chest. The blond brought her blade up to block once again, however Kurenai's foot kicked out and took Samui's from under her, sending her to the ground. Kurenai brought her blade down only to once again have Samui block the strike and kick Kurenai in her injured arm. The leaf jonin retaliated by delivering a brief cut to Samui's leg, simultaneously sending a nerve paralyzing shock through the limb. Samui didn't make a sound as she pulled out a pair of kunai and threw them at Kurenai's face. Kurenai was forced to move back which gave Samui the time to get to her feet. However, the blond jonin fell to one knee as her other leg was unresponsive and numb.

"So Kurenai lost use of her arm and Samui has lost use of a leg. I wonder who is worse off." Naruto muttered to himself. However it was heard by the Raikage.

'Samui still has the advantage.' The leader of the hidden cloud village thought to himself with a smirk as the two woman tried to catch their breath.

The Raikage was proven correct as Samui touched her leg and sent a small jolt of lightning chakra through it. The limb seized painfully but after a minute two, she was able to once again put her wait on it.

'Samui's leg was incapacitated by a burst of lightning. Using a second burst to negate the first is a simple enough maneuver. Kurenai-sensei, however, is still without the full use of her arm.' Shino thought to himself.

Samui took full advantage of this fact and began to overwhelm Kurenai with her superior kenjutsu skills. Kurenai hadn't trained with the blades long enough to be able to defeat a swordsman of Samui's skill. Those in the Cloud village were taught to use weapons early in their ninja careers. Samui had roughly five times the amount of experience and it was beginning to show. Kurenai had the skill and the tenacity but she fell short in the one category that mattered the most, experience.

Thus it was no real surprise to the cloud ninja nor Kakashi himself when Samui knocked Kurenai's remaining sword out of her hand into the air and swiftly jumped up to grab it. While doing this, she sent a double thrust kick into Kurenai's chest, downing the leaf jonin. Samui landed on her feet standing over Kurenai with both blades crossed against the genjutsu mistress's throat.

"I win." Samui stated calmly as she backed away and bowed to Kurenai.

"The first match goes to Samui." The Raikage said with a vicious smirk.

'I lost. How could I lose? Is this the limit of my strength?' Kurenai thought bitterly. She grit her teeth in rage at having failed the girl that was like her little sister. She stood shakily to her feet and kept her head down as she began to walk away.

"Wait."

Kurenai turned and saw that Samui was holding the lightning fangs out for Kurenai to take. Kurenai looked at the blades for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't deserve to wield them." Kurenai said softly. Samui, though, wasn't taking no for an answer and walked up to Kurenai and forced the swords back into her hands.

"You are more worthy than you believe Yuhi-san.' Samui said simply as she walked back to the Raikage and bowed to him. Kurenai placed the swords on her back and walked over to Hinata with regret and sorrow radiating off of her.

"I'm so sorry Hinata. I failed you." Kurenai said. She was surprised to see a smile on Hinata's face.

"No you didn't sensei. Don't worry we'll take care of business." Naruto said with a comforting smile of his own.

"You fought your hardest against a superior opponent, there is no reason to be upset." Shino stated calmly.

Kakashi said nothing but still gave his own form of comfort with his usual eye smile and a squeeze of Kurenai's shoulder. He turned instantly when he felt eyes on him and locked gazes with Yugito. The two tailed demon container was smiling at Kakashi and showing her feline fangs.

"I guess it's my turn." Kakashi said in his usual tone as he walked towards the battle field.

"Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi turned to see Naruto with a series look on his face.

"Win." Was the only comment from the blond chunin. Kakashi gave a nod with a completely serious expression as he walked over to stand across from the blonde haired female.

"The infamous, Kakashi of the Sharingan, also known as the copy cat ninja. It will be an honor and a privilege to defeat you." She said as she licked her lips. The smile on her face disappeared when she saw that he was looking off into the distance.

"Hey are you listening to me?" She said angrily. Kakashi turned to look at her with a surprised expression.

"Did you say something? Forgive me, I was just wondering where I would take my wife to eat later to cheer her up. Then again we could just skip dinner and head straight to desert." Kakashi said with a perverted giggle. Yugito blushed in outrage and embarrassment at the comment.

"Good for nothing pervert!" Karui shouted from the sidelines while Omoi looked on from under her foot.

"Can't blame the guy when he has a wife that beautiful. Don't get jealous Karui, it's not very attractive and you need all the help you can get anyway." He said before Karui slammed her foot into the back of his head once again.

"That's our Kakashi-sensei alright." Naruto said with a wide smirk at the comment. Hinata was blushing slightly and Shino was shaking her head. Kurenai seemed to be a bit upset at the statement though.

"Kakashi! That's not something you tell your opponent!" She screamed at her husband. He turned to her with a surprised look on his face again.

"Hmm, you're right. I should be asking you where you want to go tonight before I take all of your cares away, so where are we heading honey." He asked with a tilt to his head.

"Kakashi!" Kurenai shouted in rage at his antics.

"Wow that is one dysfunctional marriage." Yugito muttered to herself. She turned to look at Kurenai's expression to see what would happen next.

Only to fall right into Kakashi's trap.

Kakashi was in front of her in a second and punched the demon container in the sternum, robbing her of breath. He followed up with a knee to the face and swiftly swept her legs out from under her. Kakashi pulled out a kunai and stabbed down towards Yugito's chest. The woman was able to roll out of the way swiftly and got up to one knee to look in wonder at her assailant. The look on Kakashi's face told that he was far from taking this lightly.

'I can't believe I fell for that!' she thought angrily to herself as she caught her breath.

"What a cheap trick." Karui muttered angrily. Hinata heard this and looked to her with a glare.

"We're ninja, there are no such things as cheap tricks. She shouldn't have dropped her guard." The Hyuga stated sternly. This surprised not only Karui but all of the present ninja as Hinata had not uttered a word to the cloud ninja since meeting them in the leaf village. Karui quickly shook off her stupor and glowered back at the younger female.

"Whatever, just don't think you'll get the best of me the same way." She said.

"I will not need to." Hinata said dismissively and she turned to watch the battle. Naruto was looking down at her in confusion at her change in attitude but decided to ignore it for the moment and focus on Kakashi.

"I should know better than to underestimate a ninja of your stature. It won't happen again." Yugito said as she got to her feet and prepared herself for battle.

"Hmm, we'll see about that." Kakashi said as he reached into his weapon pouch. Yugito tensed, waiting to see the weapon he would pull out only to look on in shock as he pulled out an orange book and start reading it.

"W-what are you doing?" She shouted at the leaf jonin.

"Reading obviously." Kakashi replied, without taking his face out of the book.

"Why?" Yugito asked in confusion.

"To see what happens next of course." Kakashi said in a relaxed tone and he began to giggle perversely at something he read.

'This is the great Kakashi Hatake? He's a complete fool!' Yugito thought angrily.

"Kakashi! I thought I told you to stop reading those books!" Kurenai shouted from the side lines at seeing him pull out an Icha Icha book. She was sure that she had gotten rid of them all when they moved in together.

"I only use them for inspiration, dear. You won't be complaining tonight." He replied back with his usual eye smile.

'The pervert must die!' Yugito thought darkly as she rushed forward to knock some sense into the silver haired man.

Her vision was colored red in fury and only at the last minute when Kakashi ducked under her strike did she see what he was really doing behind the cover of the book. He had been making one handed seals.

"**Wind style: air bullet!**" Kakashi called out as he shot a condensed ball of wind directly into Yugito's chest, sending her flying back to land in the lake.

'I can't believe she fell for that twice.' The Raikage thought angrily as he saw what Kakashi was doing. By keeping Yugito off balance with strange and confusing tactics, he was disrupting her focus and making it very easy to take advantage of her.

"Yo big bro. He's got the same book as you." Killer bee said.

"Shut up Bee!" A said to his younger brother.

Kakashi put his book away when he felt a massive amount of chakra and killing intent erupt from under the lake. It seemed his plan had worked a bit too well. Yugito shot out of the water in an explosion of chakra. She landed on her feet on the ground with a blue cloak of chakra surrounding her with two long tails whipping behind her and two cat ears on top of her head. Her eyes had turned a bright yellow with slit pupils and her fangs had elongated.

"You're dead!" She shouted as she raced towards Kakashi. Kakashi didn't even have time to react before she planted a foot into his chest, knocking him back violently.

Not wanting to give him any time to recover, Yugito was on him instantly. Kakashi was able to roll out of the way only to get hit by one of her tails. He grunted in pain as well as the burning sensation that accompanied the blow. Touching her while she had that cloak of chakra would be difficult if not impossible.

"What's wrong, can't make anymore jokes now?" Yugito said with a predatory smirk as she raced after him once again. Kakashi had had enough of the one sided battle and pulled up his head band to reveal his sharingan. Yugito quickly broke off her attack and jumped away from him. She knew all too well that Kakashi had just become much more dangerous.

"I guess it's time to get serious." Kakashi said as he pulled out his white chakra fang and slashed at Yugito. One of her tails rose to block the strike. She wrapped her tail around the blade and wretched it from his hand. She followed up by slamming her other tail into his head. He disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'A shadow clone, when did he switch with it?' she thought as she looked around for her opponent.

"**Water style: Water dragon jutsu!**"

Yugito turned to the lake just to catch the powerful water attack full on. She was thrown back and struggled to breath under the onslaught of water. Thankfully, her cloak was powerful enough to evaporate enough of the water to keep her from serious injury. Kakashi saw her slowly get to her feet with his sharingan and saw that she was far from seriously injured.

"She's tougher than I thought. Still I have a few tricks up my sleeves." He thought as he raced through hand signs again. Yugito saw Kakashi going through a long sign of hand seals and knew she had to stop him immediately.

"**Fire style: Duel canon jutsu!**" She called out as two streams of flames emerged from her mouth to fly and circle around Kakashi. He stopped his jutsu to avoid being burned to death by diving under water.

"Bad move!" Yugito said happily as he planned worked. She jumped over the lake and made more seals.

"**Lightning style: Lightning strike jutsu!**" she called out as a bolt of electricity shot from her palm into the lake. She kept the jutsu going for a minute of two to ensure that Kakashi was hit by the technique. She landed on the surface of the lake and looked around for the leaf ninja. She saw him slowly surface, unmoving.

She used one of her tails to wrap around him and bring him closer to him, this was also to ensure that he wasn't playing possum and trying to lure her closer. She had fallen for that one too many times already and wasn't about to repeat the same mistake.

"It looks like I win." She said happily.

"Does it now?"

Yugito looked as the Kakashi she was holding turned into a white color and burst into lightning. She cried out as the lightning coursed through both her body as well as the water she stood on to further conduct the electricity. She was given no rest as she felt hands grab onto her feet and pull her under water. Kakashi grabbed her in a full nelson and held her strong. She was able to slap him away with her tails easily enough but Kaksahi suddenly disappeared, revealing himself to be a shadow clone.

'If that was a clone then where is the real one?' She thought before she slowly surfaced. She was about to climb onto the water's surface when she saw Kakashi calmly standing at the water's edge with his lightning fang. He calmly placed the tip of the blade in the water and sent his electricity through it.

Yugito had only a moment before she felt the electricity course through her body. She gave another shriek of pain as her demon cloak was unable to withstand the heightened power while surrounded by water. She disappeared under the water and Kakashi calmly stood back and waited. He wasn't stupid enough to go in after her and there really was no reason to. If she was still conscious, then he was in the perfect position to deal with her when she tried to emerge.

"Yo the copy ninja deserves his rep, he's been ahead of Yugito every step." Killer bee rapped, impressed by Kakashi's systematic battling against Yugito.

'That he does.' A thought, for once not getting on his brother for his rapping. Yugito was one of the top five jonin in the cloud village and she was being handily defeated by Kakashi. Even with her demon's power, Kakashi was proving why he was the most powerful of all the jonin in the leaf village. Still, the Raikage was stunned to see such a one sided battle. Yugito hadn't even landed a good hit yet.

"Go Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm. Hinata smiled at her boyfriend exuberance as well as the battle.

'That's my husband.' Kurenai thought happily. She might even let him get away with sneaking one of those pervert books on the mission and having the audacity of reading it in front of her.

"Yugito is far from finished so shut your mouth!" Karui shouted back at the leaf ninja.

"What do you mean?" Shino asked calmly. Surprisingly it was Samui that answered.

"Yugito-sensei can transform into her demon." She stated calmly.

'Her too? Can every demon container aside from me do that?' Naruto mentally shouted.

'**Probably. But you should probably be more worried for your sensei right now. The nibi was always a bit of a sore loser. Having her container be beaten so thoroughly will not set well with her at all.**' Kyuubi responded to the rhetorical question. Naruto didn't respond as he felt the wave of malevolent chakra explode from the water. Out of the water appeared a giant two tailed cat that seemed to be made up of blue fire.

'Well, this is going to be difficult.' Kakashi thought as he jumped to the side to avoid being squashed by a giant flaming paw. He was given no rest as the cat opened its mouth and shout out two giant fireballs. The balls of flame hit Kakashi only for him to turn into a log that was immediately incinerated.

"**Come out come out wherever you are!**" Yugito demonic voice called out in a taunting tone.

"Your sensei is cat food." Karui said with a smirk.

"I doubt that." Shino said calmly, never taking his eyes off of the battle.

Kakashi was avoiding the two tailed demon cat as best he could. So far he hadn't had that hard of a time dealing with Yugito. Despite her demon, she simply wasn't on his level. He had taken advantage of her dropping her guard earlier in the fight and simply continued to work with what she gave him. He was a bit more cautious when she called on her demon's power but even then, she wasn't as powerful as Naruto when he used Kyuubi's power. However, Naruto couldn't turn into an exact copy of his demon like Yugito could.

"**Stop running and take your beating like a man!**" Yugito called out angrily. She desperately wanted to land a solid blow on the copy ninja for making her look like a fresh out of the academy genin.

'**Calm down kitten. You're losing your focus again.**' The two tailed cat said to her container. Yugito and the Nibi had a good relationship, as did Killer Bee and the eight tailed demon. This was the reason that they both could full transform into their demon's form.

'I'm going to skin him alive, Nibi! No one makes an idiot out of me in front of my comrades, especially not some perverted leaf ninja.' She thought back.

'**You aren't trying to impress the container of Kyuubi are you? Because I think you might have some competition with Karui.**' The two tailed cat said jokingly.

'Shut up Nibi!' Yugito thought angrily to her tenant and she focused on trying to remove Kakashi's head from his body. She knew that these were to be non lethal battles, but she really did want to beat the copy ninja within an inch of his life. She once again missed the copy ninja and he jumped onto the lake and rapidly ran through a long chain of hand signs.

"**Water style: Great Waterfall jutsu!**' Kakashi called out as the water around him surged up a few meters then crashed back down to stream towards Yugito in a hid powered water technique.

"**Don't insult me!**" Yugito shouted as she opened her mouth and shout out a blistering inferno of fire that hit the water technique and negated it, causing a large amount of steam to blanket the area.

"**Hidden Mist jutsu**" Kakashi called out as the mist thickened to the point that Yugito couldn't see more than a foot in front of her.

'He's trying to hide in the mist to give himself time to think up a plan. Too bad he seems to underestimate my skills.' Yugito thought as she sniffed around for her prey. In her demon form her senses were amplified many times that of a human's and caught his specific scent easily. She turned and slammed her paw down. She felt herself catch something and he she looked closer she saw that she had smashed a log.

'He used a substitution. Still this shows that I can track him and eventually I will get him, he can't hide forever.' She thought as she once again tried to find the copy ninja with her nose. She narrowed her eyes when she sensed not one but five separate scents that were one and the same.

'He constructed more clones. He's only delaying the inevitable.' Yugito thought as she began to increase the flames that made up her two tailed feline form. The blue flames began to grow brighter and brighter and the mist began to part from the intensity of the fire and heat. As the mist began to dissipate she commanded five separate balls of fire to launch at the clones at once. She smiled when she both felt and smelled all of the clones dissipate.

She turned swiftly and slammed her paw down on a figure she saw in the mist. She was surprised to find that her paw was being held back, if only slightly. The mist cleared completely as she saw that Kakashi was holding back her paw with a lightning blade in both hands.

"So that is the technique fabled to be able to cut through a bolt of lightning. For a ninja not of this village to have such a command over the lightning element is truly astounding." A muttered to himself.

"This fight is over! Yugito-sensei has him right she wants him!" Karui shouted out happily at the perceived victory.

Kurenai had long since forgotten her anger at her husband and was instead concerned.

'Kakashi.' She thought.

"Very impressive holding off my attack with your bare hands. However, how will you deal with this!" Yugito hissed as she swung her other paw at Kakashi. Remarkably, Kakashi thrust out his left hand and held back the second paw leaving him struggling to withstand the force of each flaming paw in one hand a piece.

"Impressive, most impressive, but you seemed to have forgotten about my tails." She said with a smirk as the two tails came in front of her waiting for her command to hit him.

"You should surrender, it's over." Yugito said smugly. She had him currently pinned. He couldn't move away or he would risk getting smashed by the paws. He couldn't continue to remain as he was as he would either be skewered or eventually run out of chakra and be squashed anyway.

"Funny I was going to say the same." Kakashi replied in a strained tone.

"And how do you figure that?" Yugito asked curiously.

"Because you're run out of time!" Kakashi said with a smirk as Yugito began to feel her chakra drain away.

"W-what's going on?" She cried out as she felt her chakra being suppressed from multiple locations. It wasn't long before she could no longer sustain her demon's form and reverted back to her human body. She felt very weak and staggered back shakily from the panting copy ninja. Holding back her paws had forced him to drain a majority of his chakra to keep the lightning blades strong enough to withstand the force.

"Look underneath the underneath." Kakashi said simply as he pointed to a certain point. She looked over and noticed for the first time a small tag that was all but invisible on the broken and cracked ground. It had a special seal on it and was glowing red. Yugito looked around and spotted another four of these tags, all set in specific locations and all positioned so that both she and Kakashi were currently standing in the middle of the pentagon they formed.

"**Ninja art of sealing: Five pointed toad seal**." Kakashi said in a tired tone as he walked towards the still woozy Yugito. She tried to fall back into a fighting pose but that was soon halted when a group of dogs burst from the ground and latched onto her. She was unable to shake the dogs off and as long as she was in the area of the special sealing jutsu, she was unable to call upon her demon's chakra.

"**Summoning Jutsu: Tracking Fang**" Kakashi called out as he stood up from where he had been kneeling.

He had seen she wasn't about to accept defeat yet and thus he swiftly pulled out his special scroll and summoned his ninja dogs to restrain her. They could easy pick up the strange scent of the demon container. However, Pakkun was missing. Kakashi looked around and saw his closest canine companion laying in Kurenai's arms enjoying being petted.

"Pakkun what are you doing?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

"You don't need my help beating her Kakashi besides I like your wife better than you. How you ever hooked up with her is still a topic of debate amongst my brothers and I." the small pug said form Kurenai's arms. Kakashi shook his head in exasperation but decided that he would deal with Pakkun later.

"I win." Kakashi said simply as he walked over to her and pulled out his white chakra fang to place against her throat. There was nothing she could do.

"The second match goes to Kakashi Hatake." A said abruptly. He was stunned by what he'd seen but was nevertheless still bound to call the match.

"How?" Was the only question to leave Yugito's mouth as Kakashi dismissed his canine companions. All except for Pakkun of course who decided to remain in Kurenia's embrace.

"I created the mist to get a chance to place down these seals. They were given to me by Jiraiya to help contain Naruto should he lose control over his demon chakra. Once in the mist I allowed you to find me the first time so that you would rely completely on your sense of smell."

"But why would you want that to happen? You could have placed the seals without me ever having the chance to figure out that there were clones in the mist. It was an unnecessary gamble." She said.

"Was it? These seals are special. They have to actually come into direct contact with at least a small amount of demonic chakra to activate. Your fireballs that hit those clones were laced with your demonic chakra which was needed to activate the seals. Unfortunately I'm not anywhere near as skilled as lord Jiraiya and it took a while longer for them to fully activate. Once that happened I simply had to lure you into the target zone and hold on long enough for them to connect with one another and form the barrier seal." Kakashi said in his normal tone as he rubbed his shoulder. It had gotten a bit stiff from holding her back.

"Kakashi-sensei thought up all of that so quickly?" Naruto was stunned at the efficient planning of his uncle figure.

"Quite impressive." Shino agreed.

"It's no wonder he's considered to be the most powerful of the jonin in the out village." Hinata added feeling a bit of relief that they had tied up to matches.

"That's my husband." Kurenai said happily as she walked over to Kakashi. Pakkun had jumped out of her arms by this point, knowing what was about to happen

"You are simply amazing." Kurenai said to the silver haired man with a wide smile.

"I'm still in trouble aren't I?" Kakashi said with a sigh as he noticed the gleam in her eye.

"Well you know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished. Now let's talk about you still reading those books shall we?" Kurenai said as she grabbed Kakashi by the ear and began to drag him back to the rest of their team.

"I only use it for inspiration!" He said quickly, hoping to appease his wife.

'I lost to this guy?' Yugito thought crossly.

'He played the battle perfectly. He took her off her game by acting like a perverted fool. Yugito never was able to establish herself in this battle. What a ninja.' Killer Bee thought seriously. He wasn't in the habit of being too serious most of the time but even he had to take notice on the way his comrade had been beaten. Killer Bee's respect for Yugito was extremely high. To see her beaten so soundly was a shock.

"Karui get off me." Omoi said sharply. His red haired teammate, who had been in shock from the way the battle took place, looked to him quickly.

"It's my turn and I don't plan on losing." He said in a completely serious tone.

"For all that talk about me, it looks like you have a thing for the Hyuga." Karui said in a teasing tone. When she saw Omoi's gaze land on Hinata for a long moment, she was a bit surprised.

"Something you want to tell me?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Yeah, I'm going to win." Omoi said simply as he walked to the center of the battle field. Shino, seeing his opponent began his own trek to the battle.

"Shino." Shino turned and looked at his blonde teammate.

"Take him out." Naruto said simply. Hinata smiled at the insect user and gave him a nod as well.

"We have complete trust in you Shino." Kurenai said as she dragged an unconscious Kakashi beside her from wherever she had taken him for a….talk.

Shino gave his team a small smirk before walking calmly towards Omoi. He wasn't at all unaware of the young man's infatuation with Hinata. It really couldn't be held against him though. Roughly half of the single men in the village still gazed at the young woman with interest. It was only due to the knowledge of what Naruto would do to them should they ever act upon their feelings that kept them in check. Still, that didn't mean that Shino was going to allow Omoi to win this battle and have them take one step closer to forcing Hinata to remain in the village.

Shino wasn't the only one sizing up his opponent. Omoi, for once, didn't have strange thoughts going through his head of weird and highly improbably scenarios. He only had victory in mind. He pulled out his sword from its place on his back and prepared himself.

"Omoi vs Shino Aburame, begin." A shouted loudly.

Omoi didn't waste any time and immediately rushed to attack Shino. The Aburame quickly went on the defensive and dodged Omoi's strikes. They were swift and strong but he had long since learned how to fight against a sword wielder after Haku's long and intensive training sessions. Having seen enough of Omoi's style, he decided to fight back. Shino lifted his arms and unleashed a cloud of his chakra draining insects. Omoi jumped back and thrust out his hand.

"**Lightning style: Static shock**" He called out as a burst of static electricity that worked as an effective bug zapper. All of Shino's insects were killed.

'Fighting a lightning user will put me at a disadvantage.' Shino thought to himself as he felt the loss of his colony.

"Shino is going to have to play this one very carefully." Kakashi said, having recovered.

"Why do you say that?" Naruto asked.

"Shino's primary element is earth which has an elemental disadvantage against lightning attacks. Also, Shino' insects are weak against both fire and lightning attacks because of the power behind them. He'll have to rely on other ways to win this battle." Kurenai said, explaining Kakashi's statement.

Shino seemed to be aware of this and pulled out his kusarigama. He deflected Omoi's strike with the sickle blade and backhanded Omoi in the face. He twirled the chain and wrapped it around Omoi's sword. Shino pulled and ripped the blade from the still stunned cloud ninja's hands.

"Come one Omoi what do you think you're doing?" Karui shouted angrily at her teammate. Samui didn't say anything though she was watching Shino closely, respect glinting in her clod blue eyes.

'An Aburame skilled with a weapon? That's a new one. I always thought they relied solely on their insects.' The Raikage thought to himself as he watched the battle with a keen eye.

"Things aren't as you believe, he still has a few tricks up his sleeve." Killer Bee rapped, much to the annoyance of his older brother.

Omoi had regained his composure and was contemplating his opponent. Shino was at a severe disadvantage against his lightning element but Omoi wasn't sure how to take advantage of this. The Aburame could be very sneaky and it would only take one mistake before his own chakra was being drained from a horde of chakra eating insects.

'Guess I need my sword back.' Omoi thought to himself before he ducked under the swinging weight that Shino was still whipping around. However, Shino had given him an idea. As the china link came towards him again, he grabbed onto the weapon and sent a jolt of lightning through it. Shino released his grip on the weapon and narrowed his eyes when Omoi pulled the sickle into his hand.

Shino turned and grabbed the fallen blade of Omoi and while he was not very well trained in the art of using a katana, he was banking on the hope that Omoi had no idea how to properly use his kusarigama.

He was to be disappointed, however.

Omoi began to not only spin the weight around by its chain but also charged the entire weapon with lightning chakra as he had done with his sword. Shino now had to be very weary of the spinning weapon as eve a graze would send electricity coursing through his body. He leapt to the left as Omoi sent the weight aimed at Shino's chest. Omoi moved with his opponent and slashed down with the sickle, only to have the blow blocked by his own blade. Omoi was hesitant to damage his personal weapon and Shino took advantage by send a swarm of insects to surround the both of them. He would undoubtedly lose many from the lightning that Omoi could produce but Shino was sure that Omoi couldn't defeat them all and would fall to the sheer number of insects coming towards him.

Shino was once again denied his victory.

"**Lightning style: thunder pulse jutsu**." Omoi called out as he sent a full burst of lightning chakra from his body in all directions. This attack was perfect for taking on a large amount of enemies and served its purpose well by killing all of the insects that Shino had sent at him.

Shino was taken by surprise long enough for Omoi to slash him from shoulder to hip and leave a long gash on the Aburame's chest. Shino gave a small grunt of pain and he swung out with the katana he had acquired. Omoi blocked the blow and pulled on the chain forcefully. The weight came slamming into Shino's back and sent a painful jolt of lightning through his body which only compounded the physical pain of the attack.

Knowing that he was in a bad situation, Shino leapt back from the dangerous opponent and threw the katana in the lake. He had no use for it as he didn't know how to properly wield it and it was a hindrance. However, he wouldn't allow Omoi to regain possession of it during this battle. Shino decided to rely on his own skills and obtain victory.

"**Earth style: Mud wall jutsu!**" Shino called out as he spat out mud to form a giant wall of hardened earth. Omoi was far from impressed and sent the weight through the wall. The lightning coated weapon easily pierced the earth but failed to hit anything on the other side. That was fine with Omoi as he hadn't actually planned to hit Shino.

He was sure that the Aburame was hoping to either draw Omoi close for a trap or give himself time to make a plan, or both. Either way, he was going to keep his distance as that seemed to be the best way to take out his opponent. While Omoi didn't really know how to use a kusarigama he could channel his chakra through any weapon as he had been trained to do. He sent a powerful burst of lightning chakra through the chain link and into the wall itself. Cracks appeared throughout the wall and when Omoi pulled the weight back through, the wall crumbled to the ground.

Shino wasn't behind it.

'Where did he go?' Omoi wondered to himself and he began to whip the weight around waiting for his opponent to show himself. He saw a ripping in the water and quickly sent the weight over to hit the soon emerging Aburame. Shino turned into a cloud of insects. They were unable to devour the chakra on the weapon as they would be killed so they instead simply swarmed around Omoi, far enough away to avoid destruction but still close enough to serve as an adequate distraction.

"**Aburame style: Spider entrapment!**" A multitude of long strands of spider silk came from behind Omoi to wrap around the swinging whip. The nearly translucent strands didn't conduct electricity, thus Shino was able to get a firm grip on his weapon. Omoi wasn't about to be disarmed twice and slashed through the strands with the sickle, the lightning chakra greatly increasing the sharpness of the blade.

"**Aburame style: stinging death!**" Shino called out as the two long stingers appeared from under the sleeves of his coat.

He raced forward to attack. Omoi sent the weight at Shino and the Aburame deflected the blow with one of the stingers, being covered in a hard exoskeleton like armor kept the stinger from being broken or conducting electricity. Omoi kicked out at Shino's head and when Shino ducked, the cloud ninja swung up with the sickle. Shino once again blocked with one of his stingers and felt the blade begin to cut through the weapon.

Knowing that he was going to lose the stinger soon, Shino jumped into the air and flipped around Omoi, stinging Omoi in the shoulder on his way through completing the flip. Omoi's face twisted in pain as he quickly sent out another burst of lightning from his body. The burst caught Shino flat footed and also roasted a majority of his insects that had attacked, hoping to catch the injured cloud ninja unawares.

Fortunately for Shino, while Omoi had sent out another wave of lightning, he had done so instinctually more so than for any real form of coordinated attack. This being the case, he hadn't sustained the attack long enough and a small percentage of his insects were able to land on Omoi and began to drain him of his chakra.

Shino wasn't that much better off. His earlier wound had yet to stop bleeding and that last attack had hit him fully without giving him time to prepare. He could feel his nervous system misfiring from the influx of electricity and was unable to move for a few moments. Omoi wasn't able to capitalize as he was busy trying to get rid of the insects on him. Even though a quick burst of the same technique would have worked, he was in too much pain from the poison coursing through his veins from Shino's last strike.

Both combatants got to their feet though both were worse for wear. Shino's body was still being affected and he felt that his response time have slowed by half. Also, his earlier wound was still bleeding at a worrisome rate and he knew he would soon start to become light headed from the loss of blood. Omoi couldn't move his right arm and the numbness was spreading quicker than he was comfortable with. They both knew they needed to end this fast.

Omoi threw away Shino's weapon and instead held out his hand. Shino was confused as to what he was doing until he felt the pull of lightning in Omoi's hand. Shino got a warning from his insects and jumped to the side to avoid the returning katana of Omoi. He hadn't avoided it completely and felt burning pain erupt from his side where the blade had cut him. He swiftly sent out a horde of insects that went for Omoi.

"**Cloud style: Crescent Moon beheading.**" Omoi called out as he slashed forward with great speed. The attack itself was powerful enough to kill or knock away many of Shino's insects by itself but adding on the lightning element that Omoi had put in his blade and the attack destroyed all that were coming for him. He heard a bussing behind him and saw the rest of the swarm coming to his rear.

"**Cloud style: reverse Beheading.**" Omoi did a powerful spin and took out the insects coming behind him.

Thinking himself clear, he turned back to Shino and was surprised to see the Aburame holding his kusarigama. Shino's earlier attack had only been to distract Omoi as a small portion of his swarm had gone to pick up his weapon while Omoi was distracted.

Both fighters stared long and hard at one another as they readied their attacks. They knew it would be the last one. Omoi charged all of his remaining chakra into his sword as he felt the numb sensation spread throughout the entire right side of his body. He had seconds at the most before he would be unable to move properly.

Shino was bleeding badly from his wounds and could feel the light headed sensation that comes from blood loss coming over him. Despite this he passed his hand over his sickle blade, applying a very debilitating toxin on the blade. One scratch would be enough to take down his opponent for good.

'This is it.' Naruto thought anxiously.

'Please be okay Shino.' Hinata thought with a worried look on her face.

'This will be interesting.' Kakashi thought calmly.

'Go Shino.' Kurenai thought encouragingly.

'You better not lose Omoi!' Karui thought heatedly, she refused to allow them to fall behind the leaf ninja in the total number of wins.

Both fighters took off at the same moment and slashed towards one another. There was a bright flash as Omoi's lightning chakra was released as well. When the flash disappeared, the battle was over.

Omoi's blade was pointed directly over Shino's heart, while Shino's sickle was inches away from cutting Omoi's throat. Both combatants stared long and hard into one another's face before both collapsed.

"A tie? That was unexpected." A said as he gave the ruling. The two teams rushed over to their comrade and check on them.

Being a field medic, Hinata healed Shino enough so that he wouldn't die of blood loss. He would have to take it easy for a while so that his body could fully heal itself. Hinata looked over at Omoi and noticed that the cloud ninjas' idea of medical care was Karui shaking Omoi and yelling at him to wake up. Though she didn't want to, her training as a medic forced her to look after any injured patient.

"Let me see him." Hinata said as she stood up. Naruto stood with her and while he held his tongue he wasn't happy about her trying to heal the guy that was obviously infatuated with her.

"And why should we?" Karui asked suspiciously.

"Because Omoi is infected with a toxin of whose design we are unaware of. Being the teammate of the Aburame, it is safe to assume that she has knowledge that we don't and would be better able to help him than we or even our medics are." Samui stated calmly.

"I don't trust them." Karui said to her commander.

"That's irrelevant, move aside." Samui stated coldly as she glared at Karui. Samui didn't like to be talked back to. Karui gulped fearfully under her leader's gaze and stepped back.

Hinata looked down at the paralyzed cloud ninja and began to draw the poison from his body. It wasn't the deadliest that Shino had created as he wasn't trying to kill Omoi. Still, it did its job perfectly and was soon removed by Hinata. Omoi had begun to regain consciousness and could see Hinata's beautiful face close to his own.

'She looks like an angel. I wonder if I should kiss her now. I better not. She'll probably fall madly in love with me on the spot and then her former boyfriend will try to kill me. In my current state he'd succeed and then I wouldn't be able to enjoy living the rest of my life with her. I better wait until she is a part of the cloud village.' Omoi thought as he felt his body start to function normally. Omoi was soon broken form his thoughts when Karui proceeded to kick him in the head and knock him back out.

"How could you lose you idiot?" Karui shouted at her unconscious teammate.

"Stop it!" Hinata shouted angrily, much to the surprise of everyone present.

"Leave him alone. He fought bravely and was able to obtain a tie against one of konoha's most tactical chunin. I highly doubt that you would be able to do as well against Shino." Hinata said with a glare at the stunned Karui.

"Oh and why is that little girl?" Karui growled back.

"Because even I have a difficult time matching Shino and you are not even my equal in battle." The former Hyuga said in a tone that would have actually made her father proud.

"Is that so? Well it is our turn so why don't we put that to the test!" Karui shouted as she grabbed Omoi's body and threw him to Samui. She was trying to burn a hole in Hinata with her eyes and was ready for a battle.

"Yes, let's." Hinata said. The konoha team had yet to see Hinata so emotional during the mission and were slightly worried that she was cracking and allowing her feelings to rule her.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto said as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. He was surprised to feel no tension in her body. She was completely relaxed and in control. Hinata turned and gave him a smirk that was normally on his own face.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun. There's no way I'll lose." She said with a confident look in her eyes. Naruto gave her a small kiss and gave Karui a fanged smile.

"You're about to see why angering Konoha ninja is a very bad idea." Naruto said as he turned his back on the two and moved out of the fight zone.

"Hinata Yuhi vs Karui, begin!" A shouted out loudly.

"Catfight!" Killer Bee shouted at the same time.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 10. Sorry for the long wait but I graduate from college in two weeks and have been focused solely on trying to get ready for that monumental event. However, the next chapter will be out very soon!**

**The current score is tied between the two teams. One win, one loss, and a tie. What will happen next time? Karui has angered our favorite female ninja and Killer Bee best described it! How will the fight end? What will Naruto do to battle Killer Bee? **

**That is a secret! (Turns and sees all characters occupied)**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123…**

**Kurenai: Hold it!**

**K123: Not this again! What do you want Kurenai.**

**Kurenai: Why did you return that cursed book to Kakashi in this chapter?**

**K123: Because…it was funny**

**Kurenai: You think it's funny for a grown married man to read porn so openly.**

**K123: Well I am a guy so I can't fairly answer that question….Kakashi come over here and deal with your wife!**

**Kakashi: Hmm you say something K123?**

**K123:….saw that coming. Look Kurenai would you feel better if I gave you and Kakashi some private time?**

**Kakashi: I'm all for that!**

**Kurenai: Why would I agree to that?**

**K123: Because you obviously need to relive some stress and who better than the coolest jonin in Naruto?**

**Kurenai: About that, in the show I was with Asuma and even had his child. Why did oyu pair me with the perverted copy ninja?**

**K123: Because Kakashi is cooler that Asuma and the coolest jonin should be with the most beautiful kunoichi in my opinon.**

**Kakashi: And I'm much better looking.**

**K123: We've only seen one fourth of your face in the entire show, so that is disputable.**

**Kurenai: We're getting off topic! I want those horrid books gone for good!**

**K123: You won't be saying that once Kakashi shows you what he learned.**

**Kakashi: Agreed.**

**K123: Regardless, that will come later for now it's time to end this and get working on the next chapter. So until next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**(Battle ground)**

"Hinata Yuhi vs Karui begin!" A shouted as the two kunoichi began to circle one another.

Karui attacked first by drawing her blade and slashing towards Hinata's head. Hinata brought up her daggers and blocked the strike. Karui kicked towards her midsection and Hinata spun away from the blow and broke the weapon lock. Karui wasn't going to allow her to get away and pressed forward with several swift and coordinated attacks.

This didn't worry the former Hyuga in the least and Hinata didn't even block the strikes. She used her natural flexibility to evade every blow, no matter how fast or well timed it was sent at her. Karui was becoming increasingly annoyed at Hinata. The chunin had yet to even activate her byakugan and was still evading every strike sent her way.

"She's got no chance of hitting Hinata-chan." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Hinata is playing at a disadvantage though." Kurenai said suddenly, wiping the smirk off Naruto's face.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata will most likely not use her full power as she doesn't want to alert the cloud ninja to her ability to use the power of the angels. This being the case, she can't activate her byakugan or else the Raikage and probably the rest of the high level cloud jonin will feel the influx of a foreign chakra unlike anything they've felt before and begin to ask question we aren't ready to answer." Kakashi said very quietly, so as not to be overheard.

"Hinata will have to win this without the benefit of her special powers." Shino added.

'That makes two of us.' Naruto thought as he laid a hand on his sword and thinking about his upcoming match.

The cloud ninja noticed the hushed tones coming from the Konoha shinobi and narrowed their eyes at the obvious attempt to conceal whatever it was they were discussing.

"You won't win by running away little girl." Karui taunted as she attempted to keep her anger under control. She was not happy at all that Hinata was able to dodge every one of her strikes like they were nothing. Also, the fact that Hinata had yet to activate her byakugan irritated Karui as she felt that Hinata was taunting her by saying she didn't need the dojutsu to defeat Karui.

"And you won't win if you can't hit me." Hinata fired back as she finally decided to attack. While her daggers weren't long enough to give her the range advantage, she was faster than Karui and thus was able to get inside of her defense swiftly.

However, while Hinata may have been a bit faster than her opponent, Karui was stronger than the leaf chunin. She quickly slashed with her sword and Hinata once again was forced to block with both of her blades and even then, the force being applied was enough to stop her momentum and attack plan.

Karui smirked and sent a wave of lightning chakra through her blade, seeking to either electrocute Hinata or cut through her daggers. She was surprised when she noticed that the lightning chakra was not being conducted by the daggers and that the daggers were not being cut through, despite the heightened cutting power of her katana.

'What's up with those daggers of hers?' She thought as she suddenly felt a burst of chakra that she didn't recognize. She looked into Hinata's face and her blood ran cold when she saw the activated byakugan.

'Interesting. Hinata decided to throw caution to the wind and activate her byakugan. Doing so set off a brief burst of her divine chakra but it shouldn't be recognizable by any of the cloud ninja.' Kakashi thought to himself as he subtly looked at the cloud ninja.

Omoi didn't seem to notice as he was still focused on Hinata in a way that was putting Naruto on edge. Samui and Yugito's eyes narrowed slightly and Kakashi was sure that while they probably didn't know what they felt, they did feel the burst of divine chakra. The Raikage and Killer Bee seemed to be oblivious to it but Kakashi knew better than to underestimate the two strongest ninja in the cloud village. They had felt it as well but weren't showing any reaction. Kakashi wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign.

'I hope the risk was worth it Hinata.' He thought as Karui swiftly jumped away from the much more dangerous leaf ninja.

"Finally decided to bring it out then? It's about time. I was getting tired of waiting." The red haired woman stated confidently.

"Your village is very obsessed with obtaining these eyes of mine. I thought a demonstration on what they can do is in order." Hinata replied as she put her blades away and fell into a mixed stance of the serpent taijutsu style with elements of the gentle fist added in.

She had worked on this new style with the help of Kurenai and Anko for years and was deadly efficient with combining the flexible serpent style with the powerful and subtle deadly strikes from the gentle fist style.

"Not a good idea to put away your knives girl." Karui stated confidently, even though she was highly alert of any movement. She knew that one wrong move would leave her vulnerable to the deadly style that could take her out with one blow.

Hinata didn't answer as she continued to observe her opponent with her awakened Byakugan. She knew it was a calculated risk to activate it as she could do nothing to stop the markings on her skin to begin to glow. It was faint as she was only using the bare minimum amount of angelic chakra to activate her byakugan but it was still noticeable to anyone who either knew to look or had very keen eyes and being surrounded by high level shinobi, she knew that it had been noticed.

'I've got to be smart about this. Those eyes of hers and that style of taijutsu will take me out the moment I make a mistake.' Karui thought to herself as she sheathed her sword, much to the surprise of Hinata and the others.

'So Karui finally got her temper under control and is thinking things through. That's going to make this much more interesting.' Omoi thought critically.

"**Lightning style: Scatter shot!**" Karui called out as a small bolt of lightning shot from each of her finger tips at Hinata.

"**Kaiten!**" Hinata called out as she began to spin and formed the impenetrable dome of chakra. The small shots hit the shield but were far too weak to cause any damage. Hinata stopped spinning and thrust her hand out.

"**Gentle fist style: Empty palm!**" She called out as she shot out a burst of chakra from her hand. Karui was momentarily surprised to see the attack and was just barely able to leap to the side to avoid the blow. She wasn't able to rest as Hinata was already dashing towards her to bring the battle into close range.

'I've got to keep my distance!' Karui thought as she quickly began to sign even as she started to dodge Hinata's strikes.

"**Lightning style: Thunder ball justu!**" She called out as she shot out a large ball of electricity at her opponent.

"**Protection of the 64 palms!**" Hinata said as she began to move her arms so quickly that appeared to be nothing blurs. She surrounded herself with her chakra blades until they created a net around her that blocked the ball of lightning chakra. Instead of being shredded, her web of chakra absorbed the force of the attack and sent it back at Karui.

Karui dodged her redirected attack and had to avoid a strike that was aimed at her chest. She attempted to combat Hinata in close range and swiftly found herself vastly outclassed. She was running more than she was attacking. Even blocking one of Hinata's attacks were going to end up with her losing the use of a body part and Hinata was coming closer and closer. Karui bit her lip and decided to try and create space once again. If she couldn't she was going to lose very soon.

Karui quickly drew her sword and attacked high. Hinata bent backwards at an angle that seemed inhuman and shot her leg up to hit Karui's elbow, sending a burst of chakra through the limb. The red haired chunin cried out in pain as her left arm became useless and she dropped her blade. She swiftly jumped back and tried to create space.

"She can send a jyuken strike through her feet as well? I've never heard of a Hyuga being able to do that." A muttered to himself in surprise and a bit of envy. What he wouldn't do to have that kind of a ninja in his ranks.

"Hinata-chan doesn't use the common gentle fist style. This is all her own." Naruto said, having caught the Raikage's comment.

'Looks like Karui is in some trouble.' Omoi thought to himself.

'Great just great.' Karui thought angrily to herself as she continued to try and avoid being struck again by attacking konoha ninja.

"**Lightning style: Thunder pulse jutsu!**" Karui called out as she quickly created one handed seals when Hinata was an inch from striking her again.

Hinata was caught flat footed as she hadn't counted on Karui being able to use one handed seals. She was caught in the attack and sent tumbling back, giving Karui time to take a breath and try to formulate a plan. Her arm was still useless and she had a sinking suspicion that she wouldn't be able to use it any time soon.

Hinata stood to her feet and stared at Karui with her byakugan blazing. There was no fear in her gaze, only determination and a will to win as well as a large amount of confidence. Hinata knew she had the advantage and that she was only a single move from victory. Karui hated the look in Hinata's eyes.

"That look I hate that look on your face." Karui said softly but in a voice filled with anger. Hinata looked at her in confusion for a moment.

"That superior look on your face it angers me beyond words! From the very moment that we entered into your village we have been looked down upon and judged without ever having a chance to show who we really are. Your blond haired boyfriend has been looking at us like we are going to kidnap or attack you at any moment. We aren't that kind of a village anymore and it pisses me off that you look at us like you are superior instead of our equals." Karui said with a fire burning in her eyes.

Hinata was stunned silent for a moment before she noticed that the fire in Karui's eyes was the same that Naruto had in his own when he was talking about his village. It was a look of passion and pride. Hinata had thought that the fire was from anger and hate but looking closer, she saw that she was mistaken.

'She's just like Naruto-kun.' Hinata thought in surprise and a bit of shame. It was true after all. Ever since the cloud ninja had come to their village, she had been focused on the past and what had almost happened to her instead of giving their village a chance to prove that they were not the same as they used to be.

It was understandable for Naruto to react the way he had after all but she should have acted more like Shino, Kakashi, and Kurenai. While suspicious, they were willing to wait and see if the cloud ninja truly were worthy of respect and trust. She and Naruto had not been willing to give them that and it hadn't helped that Karui had become defensive and things went downhill from there.

'I can't allow the past to continue to influence my future.' Hinata thought as she shocked Karui and everyone watching as she gave Karui a small bow.

"I apologize for the way that I have acted. You are not that different from Naruto-kun as your pride in your village is second to none." She said simply. Karui

"Well it's not like I helped things with my temper. Another thing he and I seem to have in common." Karui said with a smirk showing that the apology was accepted and that she was also sorry about the way she had acted as well. She grabbed her sword with one hand and charged it with lightning chakra.

Hinata once again pulled out her daggers and decided to finish the battle with her weapons. She didn't need to but she was going to start earning respect by giving it. Her blades worked the same way as her hands and feet and one small cut would tear up the chakra pathways in the enemy's body.

They met in a clash of steel and once again began their deadly dance. Once again Karui tried to overpower Hinata with her strengthened blade while Hinata, not wanting to match strength with strength, used her flexibility and speed to find an opening. Their deadly dance continued for a few more minutes before the inevitable conclusion final occurred.

Karui went low and Hinata jumped above the swinging blade and thrust both of her daggers into Karui's shoulders. The wounds weren't deep but they still left both of her arms completely useless. Karui, kicked out and caught Hinata in the side. The former Hyuga took the blow and quickly righted herself in the air. She put her daggers away and deactivated her byakugan.

"Looks like I lose. Can't believe I lost worse than Omoi." Karui said to herself, knowing the battle was over.

"This battle goes to Hinata Yuhi." A said with a smirk, seemingly uncaring about the loss.

"Way to go Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted happily as he wrapped her up in a hug and began to swing her around happily.

"Very well fought my friend." Shino said with a nod.

Kakashi and Kurenai, while happy, were still focusing on the cloud ninja. Killer Bee, Yugito, Samui, and A were quietly conversing with one another and the two leaf jonin knew that the cloud ninja were discussing Hinata's battle in great detail.

'Still, the worst that could happen now is a tie. I wonder what they are planning.' Kakashi thought critically.

Kurenai noticed her husband's contemplative look and turned her attention to her former team. Naruto had set Hinata down and she had released the blocks on Karui's arms allowing her freedom of movement.

"Man you got beat faster than I did." Omoi said smugly. Karui glared at her teammate but wasn't yet in a position to knock some sense into him as her arms were still numb.

"Quiet Omoi. Karui fought against an opponent that excels at close range combat and she lacked the skill set to appropriately defeat her." Samui stated calmly.

"I concur." Shino said with a nod of acknowledgement to Samui.

Naruto had stopped paying attention to the conversation as he watched Killer Bee and the Raikage speak softly to one another before both of their eyes landed on him.

'I've got a bad feeling about this.' Naruto thought to himself.

"Naruto-kun." Naruto turned and saw his teammates and sensei standing before him with encouraging smiles.

"You can do it. I believe in you." Hinata said confidently.

"You seem to have an unnatural ability to make the impossible a reality." Shino said in his usual roundabout way of complimenting him.

"On the bright side, even if you lose it will result in a tie." Kakashi said with his usual smile.

"Shut up Kakashi! Don't listen to him Naruto go and show them your strength." Kurenai said with a smile that quickly left her face as she grabbed Kakashi by the ear and dragged him away once again to discuss his form of encouragement

Hinata gave Naruto a quick kiss and he once again felt her send a small amount of angelic chakra into his system. A confident smirk came to his face then and he knew that despite the things going against him, he would somehow pull this out.

'Besides how strong could this guy be?' Naruto thought as he looked across at Killer Bee. The large dark skinned man was writing in a small booklet and seemed to be ignoring him for the moment.

"Final match: Naruto Uzumaki vs Killer Bee, begin!" A shouted.

Naruto quickly moved his head to the side to avoid a small projectile that left a small cut on his cheek. Naruto was astonished to see that it had been the pencil in Killer Bee's hand. The tiny object had been charged with lightning chakra to boost its piercing strength and shot at his head in less than a second. It had embedded itself into the ground and Naruto could only shudder to think what would have happened had it connected.

"Not bad at all, you were ready from the very beginning of big brother's call." Killer bee said with a smirk.

'Guess that answers my question.' Naruto thought referring to his earlier question of Bee's skill.

Killer Bee then took his seven swords and threw them into the air. He caught all seven swords at differing parts off his body including his elbows, mouth, knee, shoulder, armpit, and waist. He held himself in a strange position and neither Naruto nor the other konoha ninja could figure out what he was doing.

'There's no way that he can use seven swords at once!' Kurenai thought.

She was wrong.

Bee leapt at Naruto and began to attack in an unorthodox but still deadly effective sword style. Naruto drew his blade and did his best to defend himself. It wasn't working very well though. Even Kakashi, who had lifted his headband to try and follow Killer Bee's movements, was unable to discern any pattern in the seemingly random attacks that flowed together perfectly to form a style never before seen.

'This is not good!' Naruto thought as he did his best to dodge and block the strikes. He was receiving many cuts and slashes and knew he had to get away from the buzz saw of blades that was Killer Bee.

"**Shadow clone jutsu!**" Naruto shouted when he jumped back enough to give him the precious few seconds needed to form his favorite seal. Suddenly, he created a dozen clones of himself and sent them at Killer Bee. They were destroyed in less than five seconds but Naruto had only created them to give himself enough time to form more seals.

"Too slow!" Killer Bee shouted as he slammed one of his blades into Naruto's, driving the young chunin on one knee from the force of the blow.

"Is this your own power or that of your tailed beast?" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

"That's mister tailed beast to you Nine-o. I float like a butter fly and sting like a bee!" Killer Bee said as he suddenly pierced Naruto with his remaining six swords in one lightning fast motion.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out in shock.

"Relax Hinata, he's not out of this yet." Kakashi said with a small smirk.

Killer Bee looked at the skewered Naruto and suddenly noticed that no blood was flowing from the wounds. He did however, hear a whistling sound. Naruto suddenly exploded in a violent burst of wind that both blew away Killer Bee's swords but also gave the dark skinned jonin numerous cuts and slashes across his body.

'He replaced himself with a clone he made out of wind chakra? Never seen that before.' Killer Bee thought, impressed by the blonde's quick thinking and techniques.

"You like it? I call it my **divine wind clone jutsu**." Naruto said as he appeared on the lake. **(AN: Divine wind clone was borrowed from Leaf Ranger.)**

"That took some skill, but you should have gone in for the kill!" Bee said with a smirk as his body was soon covered in lightning chakra. He rushed at Naruto with a burst of speed that was impossible to follow. Taking a gamble, Naruto thrust his palm out.

"**Slicing cyclone!**" He shouted as a large twister came from his palm. Fortunately, Bee had been running in a straight line and ran directly into the attack. The powerful wind jutsu stripped away his lightning coat and sent the older ninja flying back to crash into a large jagged rock.

'This kid is very proficient with wind chakra and jutsus. Bee better get serious.' A thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes at seeing his brother pull himself out of the rubble and crack his neck.

"Nice shot. Let's try that again!" bee shouted as he once again glowed bright with lightning chakra and vanished from sight.

'Crap!' Naruto thought as he once again lost sight of his opponent. He had no illusions about his last technique connecting. He had simply gotten lucky to hit Bee. Now that the jonin knew had had such a technique, he was sure to move in an elaborate fashion so Naruto wouldn't be able to hit him.

He was proven correct when he felt a punch that felt like his mother had hit him land in his stomach. Naruto spat up blood and was sent crashing back into lake, creating a giant geyser of water. Bee looked on as his opponent sank beneath the water.

'That should have knocked him out cold.' Omoi thought to himself. His sentiment was carried throughout the watching ninja.

Bee suddenly jumped back and avoided a large crescent wave of wind that had been shot from under the water. He continued to back flip to avoid the numerous wind blades being sent his way. He stopped suddenly when he found himself in the middle of a giant whirlpool.

'Should have seen that coming.' Bee thought as a large cyclone of air broke the surface of the water and carried Bee high into the air. Naruto had created a shadow clone to launch the wind blades to move Bee into position for another slicing cyclone. This one however, he had put a large amount of chakra into and he felt the strain.

'Not being able to use the fox or those scaly jerks' chakra means I have to be a bit more frugal with my chakra.' Naruto thought to himself as he stood on the surface of the water.

He had little time to rest before he saw a glowing form quickly descending towards him. Bee had taken his remaining two swords and was fast approaching Naruto's position. Naruto was able to bring his blade up just in time to block the blow but both were sent crashing in the water, just as Bee wanted.

The lightning around his body conducted through the water and Naruto felt the painful volts of electricity flowing through him. He saw Bee swimming towards him much faster than a regular shinobi should be able to and channeled his blade with wind chakra. Bee smirked at him and then spat out a dark cloud of ink. Naruto was immediately caught off guard by the strange move and found he could no longer see anything. He decided that the best option was to swim to the surface and attempt to regroup. Bee was not going to allow him to get away however and he felt himself being pulled back into a choke hold and pulled further underwater.

'He's trying to drown me!' Naruto thought as he found himself in the precarious situation where he was both being electrocuted as well as slowly drowning at the same time.

'Best time to try this out.' Naruto thought as he sent a burst of wind chakra from his body out in all directions. It was a move that he was still trying to perfect and he didn't even have a name for it yet. It did perform the way he wanted however, and Bee was sent shooting back, painfully. His lightning armor did nothing against the concentrated burst of wind chakra and he even felt himself losing blood from a few deep cuts.

'This kid uses wind chakra almost as well as I use lightning.' Bee thought as he saw Naruto break the surface of the water and race to shore.

Naruto was gasping for breath by the time he reached the shore and was on one knee trying to regain his composure. Bee was stronger, faster and despite having an elemental disadvantage with lightning chakra, simply better than Naruto and he hadn't even begun using his demon's power yet.

'Not surprising though. He's much older and a jonin.' Naruto thought to himself as he saw Bee stand on the surface of the lake and sheathe his two swords.

"While this has been interesting, I am eager to see the boy's control over both his demon as well as the dragons. Bee, take it up a notch!" A shouted with a feral smile that was shared by the cloud ninja.

'This isn't good. Naruto told me about the restriction that has been placed on him by the earth dragon. He's barely holding on as it is. There's no way that he can defend against the eight tail's power without assistance.' Kakashi thought in worry that was shared by Kurenai.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered as they felt the telltale wave of malevolent chakra come from Bee.

"It's time to go wild!" Bee shouted as a chakra cloak surrounded him and eight tails of chakra waved behind his body.

'Well, this is going to be fun.' Naruto thought as Bee suddenly appeared before him.

"**Lariat!**" Bee shouted as he smashed his forearm across Naruto's chest in a close line. Naruto dispelled into smoke, revealing that he had been a shadow clone. Bee turned to look behind him and smile, showing his fangs.

"If you hadn't dodged that you would have had your chest caved in." Bee said in a serious tone for once.

"I noticed." Naruto said as he emerged from his hiding spot. Bee speed and strength were astounding and he showed no strain from using the eight tail's power. Bee smirked before he rushed forward once again.

"**Piercing Shadow Jutsu!**" Naruto called out as a dome of darkness surrounded he and Bee. The observing ninja were also unable to see into the pitch black dome and could only wait and gues what was occurring inside of the jutsu.

"That's an interesting jutsu." Yugito muttered to herself.

Inside of the jutsu, Bee had stopped moving and was trying to find his opponent. However, it seemed the jutsu didn't just affect his sight but also his other senses as even his demonic powered hearing and sense of smell were off. He also had a problem keeping his balance and was alarmed as well as interested.

"I really like you kid!" Bee shouted with a smile. It left when he felt a burning pain across his back. He turned and lashed out with one of his tails but missed. He was surprised that something had been able to pierce his chakra cloak.

'Good even if I can't call upon the divine chakra in and of itself, my sword was forged with it and thus still causes damage to those wielding demonic chakra.' Naruto thought to himself, happy that he had something to rely on.

Naruto created dozens of shadow clones, despite the high chakra consumption of the piercing shadow jutsu. He only had so long before the justu ended and he needed to take advantage of the currently defenseless Bee. He sent his clones in to attack while he waited and watched for an opening.

Bee was quickly becoming annoyed with the continual attacks and while he got lucky a few times and was able to hit some of the clones attacking him, he was still not making any noticeable progress against the younger demon container.

'Time to go to level two!' Bee thought as he drew upon more of his demon's power.

Naruto felt the sudden increase in demon chakra and gulped in fear. He had only felt something this potent right before he lost his mind when he went into the four tails stage. However, unlike himself, he was able to tell that Bee was still in full control of the power he was radiating.

'This is insane! How can he control it to such a degree?' Naruto thought to himself before he felt an ominous chill run down his spine. He felt all of his clones disperse in a matter of seconds and realized that the hunter was now the hunted. Naruto canceled his jutsu, as it obviously was no longer working and was shocked by what he saw.

Bee was covered in the same dark demonic cloak that he wore when he was in the four tails state. However, Bee had eight tails and he looked more like a ox with the two horns that were sticking out of the cloak.

"He can control his demon to that degree?" Kurenai asked, shocked by the display of power and control.

"Bee is considered the perfect jinchuuriki because he has complete control over his demon. He can use the full power of the eight tails and suffer minimal to no side effects." A said loudly enough for all to hear.

'That's just great!' Naruto seethed to himself as Bee came for him.

While not as fast as before, he was magnitudes stronger and Naruto found himself running from the beast that could crush him with one blow. Naruto ducked under a tail only to get caught by a fist to the chest. He was sure he felt a few of his ribs snap and coughed up blood as he was whipped by Bee's tails, which were burning his skin. Naruto was thrown back and should little sign of rising again.

Blood was running down his face, slightly blinding him and he looked up to see Bee stick his arm out. A large skeletal ox formed from his shoulder and Bee rushed forward to apparently slam the strange object into Naruto. Calling on the last of his chakra, Naruto stood to his feet.

"**Wind style: Hurricane Gale!**" Naruto shouted out as he thrust of his palms and unleashed his most powerful wind jutsu.

The high force winds slammed into Bee, but only slowed him down for a moment before he broke through and continued on to Naruto. Naruto was just able to raise his sword in a defensive position when Bee hit him. Naruto felt his blade shudder from the force applied and a small crack appeared in his sword. Naruto was thrown back and broke through one of the numerous rocks around the lake.

"This match is over." Kakashi said sadly. He wasn't all that surprised and was impressed Nartuo had lasted as long as he had. Hinata had been shaking since Bee began using his demon's power and was visibly restraining herself for the entire battle from rushing in. She moved forward, as did the rest of the Konoha ninja, to help their fallen comrade.

"Not yet." They turned to see A had yet to call the match and was instead looking right at them with a look in his eye that was worrisome.

"What do you mean? Naruto can't defend himself anymore, call the match." Kurenai said with a glare.

"No. I have yet to see him use either his demon or the dragons and this match will not end until that happens." A said much to the ire of the leaf shinobi.

'We can't very well tell him that Naruto-kun can't currently use either of those. What do we do?' Hinata thought in worry.

"I must object Raikage-sama. He's in no position to do either of those and was told my Hokage-sama to refrain from using those powers while in another village." Kakashi said. It was a complete lie but was believable enough to stand on.

"I don't care. This treaty won't be signed until I get what I want! Bee take it all the way. If he's so reluctant then force him to do it!" A shouted.

"Got it bro!" Bee shouted as the already incredible power he was using began to grow, as did the chakra that exploded out of Bee. Everyone soon bore witness to the full form of the eight tailed demon ox. The beast was huge and had four long horns, one of which had been broken off at some point. Behind him were eight octopus like tentacles that acted as his tails. The amount of chakra it was putting out was truly staggering. Kakashi and Kurenai were having flashbacks of when the nine tailed fox attacked the village all those years ago.

"Call him off! Naruto can no longer defend himself!" Kakashi shouted, having lost his composure at the large threat facing down his student.

"No." A said darkly. Kakashi moved to grab his sealing scrolls when A appeared before him in a burst of speed that even Kakashi's sharingan couldn't follow.

'So fast!' Kakashi thought. He couldn't help but be reminded of his mentor, Minato Namikaze.

"This battle will continue until I see what I want. Anyone who wants to interfere may feel free to try and stop me." A said as the rest of the Kumo ninja appeared at his side. The leaf ninja were outnumbered and outgunned. The Raikage himself would be able to kill them all without any aide and none of the leaf ninja were in prime fighting condition.

'Naruto-kun.' Hinata's thoughts were solely on the blonde who had claimed her heart and suddenly a rush of anger overtook her. How dare they stand between her and her love? He was barely conscious and yet the Raikage dared to threaten him even more simply because of his own selfish curiosity? Once again the cloud village was trying to take something from her and this time she had lost whatever patience and control she still possessed. Hinata's power began to skyrocket and her byakugan activated.

"Get out of my way!" She hissed through her clenched teeth. Every ninja turned their attention to the irate woman and the Raikage's eyes widened at her power. However, his surprise turned into a smirk as he sidestepped and allowed the leaf female to pass.

Not giving a thought as to what he had planning, Hinata rushed over to her fallen love. The rest of the konoha shinobi moved to follow but the Raikage once again cut them off.

"Sorry but she'll be the only one allowed to assist him." A said.

"Why?" Shino asked, speaking for the first time.

"What better way for him to be pushed to both his physical and emotional limits than for the woman he loves to be put in danger as well." A said with a cruel smile. Kurenai rushed forward to knock that smug look off of his face only for Samui to cut her off.

"Stay back Kurenai." Kakashi said softly. The ruby eyed woman looked at her husband in shock and a bit of betrayal when she saw just how much he wanted to rush forward as well.

"This is something that they'll have to deal with themselves. We won't be able to help them." Kakashi said solemnly.

"Wise decision." A said as he turned and watched as Bee rushed forward to attack. Hinata had already grabbed the unmoving Naruto and was trying to avoid the fast approaching Bee.

'Please be safe." Kurenai thought to herself. She saw the wisdom of Kakashi's command even if she didn't like it. There was no way they would be able to defeat the cloud ninja before them, and even if by some miracle they did, they would be useless against the eight tailed demon. The only solace they could take was that A was unlikely to allow Bee to kill Naruto or Hinata.

Naruto awoke to find that he was being supported by Hinata. She was running from something but his foggy mind couldn't process what had been happening. It came back to him when he looked behind him to see the massive form of the eight tailed beast. He awoke fully and tried to say something except it felt like his entire chest had been caved in. he could barely breathe much less actually communicate.

"Hold on Naruto-kun." Hinata said, not noticing that he was awake just yet.

'What are we going to do? I can't call on any help and Hinata's powers were never meant to combat one of the nine tailed beasts. I could use some help here.' Naruto said, the last part being directed to his sword.

He felt nothing form the sword and when he looked at it he finally noticed the small crack in the blade. It wasn't much but it was enough to worry him significantly. He had never before seen it damaged but then again he had never tried to use it to block a blow from such a powerful demonic force without coating it in divine chakra. He wasn't sure what the crack meant but he had a feeling that it was very very bad.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto was able to force through his mouth.

Hinata stopped and hid behind a rock, she could hear Bee crushing the boulders around the lake, looking for them. She turned to the injured Naruto and began to run her hands across his chest. Seeing with her byakugan as well as her medical diagnostic jutsu how injured he was she immediately went to heal him.

Naruto soon found that breathing was now simply uncomfortable instead of impossible and knew that they didn't have time for her to finish what she was doing. He had to get her out of the line of danger. No amount of anger, rage, desperation, or pleading was going to make the earth dragon change his mind, Naruto knew. Thus he had to think of something to save himself. He wasn't going to allow Hinata to be put in the line of fire.

"Hold on Naruto-kun. We'll figure something out." Hinata said with a smile. The smile disappeared when Naruto forced himself to his feet despite the pain it caused him.

"You've got to get out of here HInata-chan. It's me he's after. I don't want you getting hurt." Naruto said as he leaned against the rock for support.

"I'm not leaving you here against that monster!" Hinata shouted back at him, surprised and a bit affronted that he was telling her to leave.

"This is my fight Hinata-chan. You've got to allow me to end it my way. Whether that be in victory or defeat." He said, his pride as a man coming through.

"This isn't time for your usual stubbornness Naruto-kun. You'll need all the help you can get against Bee-san." Hinata argued back.

"He's too powerful for you Hnata-chan. I'm not about to allow you to be put in danger." He retorted.

"You won't allow me! What about you? Do you really expect me to stand by and watch as he takes you apart?" She shouts back. They were soon interrupted by a swinging of Bee's tail that smashed the mountain above them and rained rocks down on their position.

"**Kaiten!**" Hinata shouted as she formed the spinning dome of chakra around both she and Naruto. When she stopped the jutsu she immediately saw Naruto stagger before falling to his knees once again.

"So this is what severe chakra exhaustion feels like. It really sucks." Naruto said with a slight smile. Having the depth of chakra that he possessed, he never truly experienced the dangerous condition.

"Stay here Naruto-kun. I'll lead him away." Hinata said after transferring a good portion of divine chakra into his system. She turned and prepared to divert Bee's attention.

"**Hidden Shadow Snakes.**" Hinata found herself bound by three serpents. She turned and saw that Naruto had created a shadow clone and that it was holding Hinata back.

"I've got to do this alone, Hinata-chan. The earth dragon issued this order to me because he wanted to see what I could do without the aid of others. He feels that I rely too much on outside help and thus have no real idea of my own limits and the true extent of my abilities. Win or lose, this is something I have to do myself." He said as he gave her a small kiss on the lips before jumping to the top of the cliff. He was sure that this was something he had to do alone. He ran a distance away so that Hinata wouldn't be caught up in the resulting battle.

"Hey Bee I'm over here!" Naruto shouted to the giant demon. The eight tailed demon turned his attention to the blonde and charged at his opponent.

'Haven't used this one in a while.' Naruto thought as he focused his chakra to his eyes.

"**Chakra flash!**" Naruto shouted as he unleashed a blinding burst of chakra directly into Bee's face. The giant ox roared in surprise and slammed into the wall of rock that Naruto had been standing on. Naruto jumped onto the lakes surface and turned to see that Bee was still trying to regain his see.

"**Slicing cyclone!**" Naruto signed as he shot out a tornado from each of his palms and allowed them to hit the water's surface. The resulting tidal wave crashed over Bee and engulfed the giant demon.

"Here goes everything! **Shadow Clone jutsu!**" Naruto shouted as he created as many clones as possible with his limited amount of chakra. The clones as one flew in and slammed into the still swirling vortex of water. The bystanders were confused as to the purpose of this until a series of explosions came from Bee's last seen position. Naruto had created an army of exploding shadow clones and had them go on a kamikaze run.

Naruto went to one knee as he depleted all of the chakra that Hinata had been able to give him. He knew it was a gamble but he had given it all he had. He just hoped that it was enough.

'Even in his condition he's able to mount an offensive with that much strategic skill and power. Impressive for a brat.' A thought to himself.

'I hope that at least slows him down.' Naruto thought to himself, hoping that he would get a break for once. He was not very surprised when Bee's giant form rose from the crumpled rock and debris and stood tall and unhurt.

"**Not bad**!"Bee shouted as he swung a tail down at Naruto. Naruto, having no energy or time to really dodge, brought his sword up to at least shorten the damage that the blow would cause.

All were surprised when an arrow of chakra hit Bee's tail and exploded.

Bee pulled his tentacle back in surprise at the small burn wound and turned his gaze to Hinata whom had her bow of chakra out and ready to fire more shots at the giant demon. Her markings were glowing in all their power and the white aura surrounding her was visible for all to see. The cloud ninja were stunned by the appearance and even the Raikage was speechless for a few seconds at the transformation.

"Get away from him!" Hinata called out as she shot three arrows at Bee. Bee shook of his stupor and swung one of his tails, connecting with the arrows and causing them to go off prematurely.

"**That trick won't work twice, especially against me! I'm cooler than ice!**" Bee rapped, a strange sight coming from a giant ox.

Hinata jumped to Naruto's side and helped him remain on his feet. She grabbed him and jumped away from another of Bee's swinging tails that impacted with the water, raising a large wave that Hinata decided to take advantage of.

"**Water style: water wall jutsu**!" She called out as the water hardened into a wall that stopped two of Bee's tails from hitting them in the air. They landed on the shore and Hinata laid Naruto down.

"Stay here Naruto-kun." Hinata said, with a small stare of annoyance letting him know that he was till in trouble for trying to keep her from helping him. Hinata rushed onto the water and stood before Bee. She focused her chakra and activated her special attack.

"**Heaven's Judgement!**" HSe called out as she shot out the bright wall of light that blinded everyone. When the light dissipated, Hinata was shocked to see that Bee was completely unharmed.

'For that to happen, he must be a man who holds little to no hatred in his heart.' Hinata thought. Could Bee really be this powerful and in control of his demon but still be a good person? This thought rocked Hinata to the core on her initial thoughts on the cloud shinobi.

"**Nice light show, but you won't be interrupting any mo'!**" Bee said as he slammed a tail of chakra in the lake, sweeping Hinata up in the wave of water.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out as he forced his body to move to his stunned and most likely unconscious girlfriend.

He got there just as one of Bee's tails was about to wrap around her. The tail instead impacted Naruto's sword and the blow jarred Naruto's entire body. Also, the crack on his sword widened. Naruto noticed this but was unable to do anything about it as Bee saw fit to continue to slam Naruto with his tails. Bee was going to follow his brother's order and push Naruto until the boy either passed out completely or showed them either his demon's power or the power of the dragons. Thus he refrained from using his full strength when he slammed his tails into Naruto's sword.

'Wait do I do?' Naruto thought to himself. He couldn't move in time to take both he and Hinata to safety and the crack in his sword was growing with each blow.

**(Mindscape)**

"**We must help him!**" Drac shouted to his siblings.

"**No.**" Tatsuo said simply as all the dragons watched the battle.

"**I agree with Drac! We should help the runt!**" Tetsuya shouted in agreement with her younger brother.

"**The only reason you side with him is because you want another shot at the eight tailed demon. Didn't he leave you near death the last time you fought him?**" Adalinda asked her younger sister, she having no real opinion on the current situation one way or the other.

"**That's not the point!**" The dragon lord of ice said defensively.

"**What about you Vasuki? What do you think?**"Drac asked the only dragon that had yet to speak.

"**I would like to see Naruto battle with his own abilities but there does come a point where we should swallow our pride and give him aid. Do we really believe that he can handle an opponent of the caliber of the eight tailed demon without us?**" The wind dragon asked his siblings. He was one of the older dragons but also like Drac, had no quarrel with Naruto and in fact felt a bit of kinship towards him because of the blonde's natural affinity to wind chakra.

"**He needs to feel the sting of defeat from another like him. It will show him how much he needs to improve. I refuse to allow him to us either us or that fur ball as a crutch.**" Tatsuo said grumpily. Surprisingly, this sentiment was shared by them all.

"**He's doing the best he can. I never felt that he took us for granted and always used our power as a last resort. Besides, don't you feel it? The beacon has been damaged.**" Drac stated in a worried tone.

"**True but that can be fixed. I'm more surprised that he refused the help of Hinata.**" Vauki muttered.

They all stopped their arguing when they felt a presence that sent a spark of fear and shock down their backs. They, as one, turned as they heard a deep growling from behind them. Suddenly a giant orb shot past them and disappeared.

"**Tell me that wasn't who I think it was.**" Drac said in stunned fear.

"**It was and things have just gone from bad to worse.**" Tatsuo said, for once fully awake and concerned.

In another part of Naruto's mindscape Kyuubi, whom had been watching the fight closely, felt his fur stand on end and his crimson red eyes widened in surprise.

"**It can't be! For him to show up now, everything is about to change.**" The strongest of the bijuu thought to himself as he felt something that had eluded him for years, fear.

**(Battle field)**

Naruto, whom was still trying to think of some way to get out of the current situation, felt a shudder through his body as his sword began to glow. A bolt of light shot up and hit the tentacle that was about to hit him and sent it flying back. Bee recoiled at the blow and looked down as the light around Naruto's blade began to change from gold to black.

'What's going on?' Naruto thought to himself as he saw the crack on his sword grow larger and larger. However, this wasn't the thing that concerned him the most, it was that the final gem on the handle of his sword began to glow brightly enough to blind him.

An overwhelming black light shot from the sword and to Naruto's shock, the blade shattered.

'N-no!' Naruto thought as the black light engulfed him and Hinata and suddenly shot up into the sky. Hinata had awoken to the light show and she too was shocked to see Naruto's sword broken. All that remained of the once mighty sword was the handle, hand guard and pommel.

"Naruto-kun what happened?" She asked as she saw the pale look on Naruto's face. What truly frightened her was the fear she could see in his eyes. Naruto was staring up into the sky where the black light had gone and seemed to be focused on something. However, nothing happened for several moments and the Raikage dismissed what he had seen.

"I don't know what that light show was supposed to accomplish but it doesn't matter. Bee, finish this up, it's obvious that this kid is all talk." A shouted to his brother.

"**Got it bro! It's been fun but this fight is done!**" Bee shouted as he charged towards them.

"Naruto-kun we've got to get out of the way!" Hinata shouted as she grabbed his arm. Naruto didn't budge and she was shocked to see that his gaze was still locked to the sky.

"**Say goodnight!**" Bee shouted as he raised one of his giant hands and brought it down towards them.

"Hinata, Naruto move!" Kurenai shouted.

Everything stopped when an earth shattering roar ripped through the grounds. Bee was frozen in place as the eight tailed demon began to shout at him.

"**Bee, get everyone out of here now!**" the giant ox shouted to his container.

"What's the problem eight-o? Bee asked his tenant within his mindscape. He and the giant beast had one of the best relationships of the demon containers, which was why he could use his demon's full potential. However, he had never before seen the demon this fearful.

"**There's no time to explain! Get everyone out of here now or you will all die!**" The giant ox shouted to his container. Bee was for the first time this battle afraid and completely serious. For the eight tailed demon to literally be shaking in his cage, something truly catastrophic was about to happen.

"What was that?" A shouted in surprise. He turned to the Konoha ninja to see if this was some kind of trick and could tell by their expressions that they too were surprised.

"I think you got your wish." Kakashi said quietly. This wasn't the first time he had seen Naruto summon a dragon but he was unnerved by the fact that not only was the sword broken, but Naruto seemed, for the first time, afraid of what was coming. He had seen Naruto happy, annoyed, and even angered at the dragons he summoned, but never afraid.

'What's coming Naruto?' Kakashi thought. Kurenai and Shino were also apprehensive but the Raikage seemed all too pleased.

"So he finally called out one of the dragons? This is going to be great I can't wait to see how it stacks up against Bee." He said with a smirk.

"Raikage-sama, something is wrong." Yugito said as she broke out in a cold sweat.

"What do you mean Yugito?" He asked, surprised to see fear in her gaze.

"Nibi is shouting at me that we need to evacuate the premises immediately and to leave the village while we can." She said in a low voice.

"Why?" The Raikage asked, shocked by the words coming from the demon container.

"She says because there may still be hope that while he is destroying the village, we will be able to escape alive!" She shouted in shock as she relayed the message.

"What? Who's coming?" the Raikage asked in both shock and the first twinges of fear. Yugito was a no nonsense ninja and wasn't one for jokes.

"**Kit!**"

'Kyuubi what's going on?' Naruto asked his demon as he came out of his trance and looked at Hinata. She was relieved that he was back to his senses but was still worried as her powers were warning her of an oncoming threat.

"**He's coming and you need to get out of there right now!**" Kyuubi shouted to his container. Naruto had never heard Kyuubi fearful, not even when they both stared death in the face.

'Who Kyuubi?' Naruto asked fearing the answer.

"**You already know the answer to that boy! Leave now before he comes!**" Kyuubi shouted to Naruto.

"The dragon of lightning." Naruto whispered to himself.

"Isn't that a good thing Naruto-kun? He can help you against Bee-san." Hinata said, a bit confused.

"There was one thing that all of the dragons and Kyuubi agreed upon and that was that I never wanted to run across this guy." Naruto said as the sky began to darken. Pitch black clouds appeared and began to block out the sun.

"**He's here!**" Kyuubi, Nibi, and Hachibi all shouted together.

"Who?" Yugito and Bee asked their demons.

"Bahamut." Naruto whispered as rain and a fierce wind began to buffet the grounds. Lightning flashed across the sky and struck the ground. Naruto and Hinata jumped off of the lake and landed beside their teammates.

"What is this Naruto!" Kurenai shouted over the howling winds.

"A dragon." Naruto shouted back.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Kakashi asked him.

"Not this one." Naruto said darkly as once again an earth shattering roar split the sky. The lightning began to strike more and more frequently and closer to the ninja. The Raikage blocked a bolt with his hand while the others dodged.

"If this is your dragon then tell it to chill out!" Karui shouted as she blocked a blot with her sword.

"This is bad. What if everyone here dies except for me? Then the village will think I did it and either make me the next Raikage or imprison me for all time. Either way, it would be a real headache." Omoi said softly as he too tried to survive the onslaught of lightning.

Samui expression didn't change as she covered Yugito, whom was on her knees panting. The Nibi was literally paralyzed with fear and the overwhelming emotion was being sent into Yugito, debilitating her.

None of the bolts had the strength to really harm Bee but he too was frozen in fear as Hachibi like the Nibi was unable to make a move.

'Kyuubi what's wrong with them?' Naruto questioned as he saw the state of his fellow demon containers.

'**Bahamut's arrival has them frozen in fear.**' Kyuubi growled, still quite upset that he was in the position he was in.

'Then why aren't you like them?' Naruto questioned as he used his wind jutsus to combat the bolts of lightning coming his way. Kurenai was using her blades to deflect them. Kakashi, like the Raikage, was able to divert the bolts with his hands. Shino was using his insects to tell him the exact moment a bolt close to him was about to strike and was able to avoid them all. Hinata's daggers and power kept her safe from the danger.

'**Don't insult me kit! Have you forgotten that of the nine demon lords only I have the ability to combat Bahamut equally? I feel his presence clearly but it only raises my ire and lust for battle!**' The strongest of the demon lords roared, his desire to do battle coursing through his body.

'I wish he would give this attack a rest. Oh well, this isn't half as bad as I thought it would be!' Naruto thought as he blocked a bolt that was heading towards Hinata's back. She gave him a small smile of thanks.

'**Fool! This is not an attack at all! This is just what happens when he arrives! You'll know when he attacks as it will be the time when mountains are destroyed!**' Kyuubi roared.

'Great.' Naruto thought as another roar split the air and strangely enough the lightning strikes stopped, as did the rain and wind.

"Is it over?" Karui asked as she was starting to breathe heavily.

"I have a feeling that this is the calm before the storm." Kakashi stated as an alarming calm seemed to settle over the land.

"Is that it? I want to see with my own eyes this dragon." A stated, seemingly unaware of what was about to come.

"I think you are about to get what you wanted." Kurenai said as Yugito began to shake uncontrollably. The two tailed container was on her knees and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

'**He's here.**' Kyuubi stated lowly.

A bolt of lightning larger and brighter than anything ever before witnessed by the ninja blinded all present. When they were able to see once again they all bore witness to a creature larger than Bee.

Bahamut was truly an intimidating looking creature. His body seemed covered in black armored plating. Two long curved horns came from the back of his head. His powerful legs ended in three toes with curved claws. His arms were the same and two huge wings sprang from his back. The two tips each had three armored claws. The insides of the wings were a dark burgundy. His mouth was filled razor sharp fangs and a black jewel shined on his forehead. His eyes were the strangest thing about him. They were a startling silver color.

'**Kit I suggest you think of something very soon because save for releasing me, you have no chance.**' Kyuubi stated.

'I'll think of something.' Naruto said, not at all sure of himself. He moved Hinata behind him as Bahamut's eyes locked on his. Naruto froze under the scrutinizing gaze and saw such contempt and rage in his eyes that for once he felt every ounce of his courage fade. He realized just how insignificant his existence was to this behemoth.

"**Nibi, Hachibi, and Kyuubi.**" Bahamut's booming voice echoed throughout the land as his tail casually struck the mountain behind Bee. The armored tail easily broke the mountain and the crumpled rock hit Bee.

"**You have all found an appropriate spot to die.**" He continued as he spread his wings apart and gave another earth shaking roar. Lightning once again began to light up the sky and the sheer volume of it ensured that no one would survive should it struck all at one.

"Hey! You're problem is with me so leave the rest of them out of it!" Naruto shouted as he called Bahamut's attention back onto him. The dragon's gaze once again found his and Naruto felt any and all of his sudden courage evaporate.

Bahamut said nothing. A bolt of lighting the size of a mansion suddenly engulfed Naruto.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted in shock and absolute horror.

However she was relieved when the lightning died down and Naruto was shown to be alive and well. Naruto's savior was the giant red dragon that had come in the nick of time to block the blast.

"Drac!" Naruto said, happy to finally see a familiar and friendly face.

"**Stop this brother! Please, this is not the way. This boy was chosen for a reason, we have no right to question Kami's decision.**" Drac said as he pleaded with his elder brother.

"**You would stand beside him Drac?**" Bahamut asked calmly as he addressed his youngest brother.

"**I would!**" Drac roared back proudly.

"**Very well.**" Bahamut said as he closed his eyes.

"**Thank you brother.**" Drac said as he turned to Naruto. Everyone's eyes bore witness to the giant bolt of lightning that pierced Drac chest. Drac looked at the gaping hole in his body and turned his stunned gaze to his brother.

"**Brother…why?**" Drac chocked out before falling to the ground.

He did not move.

"**Who dies next?**" Bahamut asked calmly as he looked to the rest of the ninja.

**(End)**

**Finally done! Sorry for the long wait but things have been hectic. I graduated from college finally! And dealing with that as well as finding a job to join the work force has been taking up my time. Regardless, the next chapter will be out sooner.**

**The dragon lord of lightning Bahamut has appeared! And he's obviously not one for talking! I can't wait so show the next chapter! That being the case, I'm going to start on it right now!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**(Battle field)**

Silence swept across the field as the ninja all froze at the unbelievably cold and cruel actions that had occurred mere seconds before. Naruto was the first to snap out of his stupor.

"Drac!" He shouted as he raced to his closest companion's side. The dragon lord of fire didn't respond to the panicked cry. Naruto couldn't even tell if he was breathing or not, but the odds weren't in his favor considered the large open wound in the middle of the dragon's chest.

"How could you? He was your brother!" Naruto shouted at Bahamut, completely overcoming his earlier fear with white hot rage.

"**The moment he decided to stand against me, he lost the right to be considered my brother. Regardless, you should be more concerned about your own coming demise.**" The lightning dragon replied in a steely tone. There was no remorse in his voice or expression.

"**I don't think so!**"

Naruto turned to see that Bee had also shaken off his surprise and even the crippling fear that had gripped him earlier. Righteous anger could be seen shining in the giant demon's eyes and he looked ready for retribution.

'**Bee what do you think you're doing? We can't defeat him!**' Hachibi shouted to his container.

'I'm not about to let him get away with that. He just took down his own brother in cold blood. I don't know when you turned into such a wimp but if I'm going to die, I'm going down fighting!' Bee said to his demon, for once neither rapping nor with a smile on his face.

'**I always knew you were a fool Bee but this is just suicidal. Still, I refuse to allow some stupid human to have more courage than me! Let's show him our strength Bee!**' The eight tailed demon roared.

'**Kitten listen to me.**' Nibi whispered to Yugito. Until this point, both had been on their knees, unable to move from Bahamut's presence but it seemed the two tailed cat had some pride left in her as well as she forced her body and Yugito by association to move.

'Nibi? What is it?' Yugito asked her demon as she stopped shaking.

'**That fool Bee is going to attack Bahamut on his own. We must back him up.**' The cat replied.

'But you told me that we stood no chance against someone like him. You told me that I should run and never look back.' Yugito pointed out, confused by the demon's change of heart.

'**It wouldn't matter now regardless. He's here and he's not going to stop until everything and everyone here is dead. We at least stand a better chance if we fight with Bee. I don't know about you but I don't favor being killed on my knees like trash.**' The cat hissed as she tried to summon up the courage to back up her words.

'I agree.' Yugito replied as she stood to her feet, surprising the ninja whom had witnessed her breakdown.

'Kyuubi what's happening?' Naruto asked as he saw Yugito once again turn into her giant two tailed feline form.

'**It seems that Nibi and Hachibi have found a way to fight past their fear to combat Bahamut together.**' The fox said in a tone that held a mixture or respect, anger, envy, and amusement.

'Can they win?' Naruto asked hopefully.

'**No.**' was the fox's quick and definitive response.

'Great.' Naruto thought darkly as he decided that Tatsuo could go and shove his order. He was going to do whatever he could to stop Bahamut. He closed his eyes and concentrated on calling upon the power of the dragons.

He felt nothing.

Naruto opened his eyes in surprise until he was once again reminded that Bahamuat had shattered his blade. He held up the pommel and could feel nothing from it. Bahamut seemed to notice, and turned to address Naruto, ignoring both of the giant demons.

"**That blade was wasted on you human. I took the liberty of correcting that rather large mistake.**" He said with a smirk that showed off his sharp teeth.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata said as she came to his side.

"It's gone Hinata-chan. I can't use the divine chakra anymore." Naruto said in a bit of a daze as the full weight of that revelation hit him. The sword and the power behind it had been by his side for years and were like a close friend that would always be there when you needed them. Their lose left Naruto feeling empty.

"We need to get to safety. I doubt that we'll be of any help in the coming battle." Shino said suddenly.

"Ha I've never run from a fight and I'm not about to start now boy." A said as he watched Bee and Yugito on either side of Bahamut, looking for an opening.

"Are you rally that stupid that you don't understand the situation that we're in?" Kurenai shouted at the bull headed kage.

"I understand perfectly. However, there is no guarantee that we would be able to escape anyway and even if we could I don't plan on leading him back to my village. I can't put them in that kind of danger. Better that we all die here and have him leave than worry about him attacking my village." A said in a completely serious tone.

"**Don't count on it human.**" Bahamut said swiftly as he turned his attention from Bee and Yugito whom were still flanking him too gaze down at the grouped ninja.

"**If memory serves then it is actually due to you that I was awakened from my slumber. All because you wanted to see what a dragon was capable of correct? We are neither your pets nor your subordinates! So little man you want to see a demonstration of my fury? Fine then, I think your entire village and its inhabitants' destruction should give you what you so desperately want to see.**" Bahamut said in a venomous tone.

"I won't let you!" A shouted as he threw off his kage robe and hat. He truly was an intimidating figure as there was not an ounce of fat on the man. He was a mountain of muscle and soon lightning chakra surrounded his body as his hair began to stand on end.

'Raikage-sama is using his full power so soon! The dragon must have seriously angered him.' Karui thought to herself.

A took one step forward before he froze. His expression was one of shock and confusion as he tried and failed to force his body to move.

"I can't move! What's going on?" He shouted as he turned his eyes towards the konoha ninja, as if this was their doing.

"**Once again you only reveal your utter ignorance human. I am Bahamut, the dragon lord of lightning and you have just covered your entire body with MY element. Thus, your body is mine to control.**" Bahamut said with a vicious smirk.

"Raikage-sama!" the cloud ninja shouted in concern as A found himself beginning to float off of the ground.

Having seen enough, Yugito rushed forward to attack the dragon that threatened her leader. Yugito ignored Nibi's shouts of warning and unleashed a torrent of fire from her mouth, engulfing Bahamut in the inferno.

"Did it work?" Karui wondered.

"Considering that Raikage-sama hasn't yet been released, I doubt it." Shino stated. True enough, the leader of the cloud village was indeed still suspended in mid air. When the firestorm died down, Bahamut was revealed to have taken no damage.

The giant dragon's harsh gaze was now on Yugito and both she and her demon flinched at the fury in his eyes. He didn't say anything but his tail swiftly made impact on the side of her head, sending her tumbling into the large lake.

"**Control your container Nibi. Your time will come.**" He said as he turned his attention back to the captive Raikage. With a tilt of his head, A was shot towards the large jagged cliffs that surrounded the lake. Such was his speed that it seemed a mere moment had passed before he was embedded in the rock. He coughed up blood and was soon pulled before Bahamut once again.

"We've got to do something!" Karui said.

"And what would you have us do Karui?" Samui spoke for the first time. Her expression hadn't changed as she still had the same cold indifferent look on her face, though her eyes were narrowed.

"Raikage-sama's more powerful than any of us alone and he can do nothing against this foe. Also, we all specialize in lightning techniques and with the mastery of control we're being shown, Bahamut would simply turn them against us." Samui said darkly.

Bahamut seemed to be enjoying himself as he continued to use A as a ping pong ball and bounce him off of close rocky surfaces. A was covered in blood and seemed to be on the verge of unconsciousness.

'**I've got to help bro Hachibi!**' Bee shouted to his demon, no longer able to watch his brother be beaten. He hadn't stepped in sooner as he simply wasn't able to react fast enough to stop Bahamut from hurting him.

'**Be careful Bee. You saw what happened to Yugito. I doubt Bahamut's compassion will last much longer.**' The eight tailed ox said to the dark skinned man.

"**I tire of you little man. You will not die though. You will live long enough to watch your village burn.**" He said as he sent A tumbling towards the grouped ninja. Samui and the others caught him and gently sent him on the ground.

"Such power." A muttered as Samui applied what little medical jutsu she knew.

Bahamut turned to look at Killer Bee and the eight tailed container knew his time to act had passed him by. Bee was surprised when a cyclone of fire came up from under the large dragon. Yugito appeared from the lake and continued to spew fire at her target.

"**Bee that won't hold him! Once he escapes I'll distract him and you attack.**" She said to him.

'**Move Yugito!**' Nibi shouted to her container as a clawed arm shot out of the fire and grabbed her by the throat. The two tailed cat was hauled off of its feet and as the fire ended, once again found herself and her container face to face with a truly pissed Bahamut.

"**It seems you are eager to die. I will oblige you!**" He shouted as he opened his mouth and flashed of lightning began to gather in his giant maw.

"**I don't think so!**" Killer Bee shouted as his tails wrapped around Bahamut's neck and pulled his head up so that the giant blast of energy was shot into the sky and not used to disintegrate his teammate.

"**You try my patience as well as my mercy. It seems you both wish to die. I will correct my sibling's mistakes all those centuries ago.**" Bahamut stated.

'What's he talking about eight-o?' Bee asked his container.

'**When we tailed beasts came into being, the dragons stepped in to protect the humans. At that time, humans had yet to learn of ways to either seal or ward us off and the battles that we had were what your legends today speak of.**' Hachibi answered his container.

'You fought this guy before?' Bee asked as Bahamut threw Yugito towards him. He caught her and jumped to the side to avoid the blast of lightning that was meant to take them both out at once.

'**He never seemed to concern himself with any of us. The only one he would appear for was when the Kyuubi would come. Other than that he seemed content with leaving us to his siblings. It was by one of their hands that I lost one of my horns.**' Hachibi said with a snort of anger at the memory of his humiliation at the hands of the earth dragon.

Their conversation was cut off when Bahamut flapped his massive wings and numerous bursts of energy were sent at both of the demons. Yugito and Bee dodged and flanked the giant demon.

'**Bee use it now!**' Hachibi ordered. Bee complied and his tailed went to his mouth as he began to charge up chakra for the demon's most powerful attack. Yugito took this cue was well and she began to gather the necessary energy. Bahamut was not about to allow them the time to do this and was set to do something about it when he was hit in the back by a large ball of fire. He turned his attention to the origin of the attack and was surprised to see Drac, bleeding and injured, was the attacker.

'**He's distracted do it now!**' Both Hachibi and Nibi shouted at their container. Both of the giant demons swallowed the giant orbs of chakra and unleashed large concentrated beams of chakra. The converging blasts consumed Bahamut and if his cries of pain were anything to go by, the giant beast would not be able to shrug the damage off easily.

"Drac you're okay!" Naruto shouted in both relief as well as surprise. He had thought, with a heavy heart that his long time friend had been killed with Bahamut's attack and to be far so did everyone else.

"**Stay out of this Naruto. You all need to get out of here now.**" Drac snarled in a strained and chocked voice. He coughed up an uncomfortably large amount of blood.

"You okay?" Naruto questioned. His concern for his friend overriding the real danger they were still in.

"**No I am not and neither will you be if you stay!**" Drac said as he tried, and failed, to take flight.

"Take it easy! You've got a hole in your chest or has that little fact slipped your mind?" Naruto shouted angered at Drac for putting his body in harm's way.

"**We don't have time for this Naruto!**" Drac shouted back.

"What's the problem anyway? Didn't you see the way Bee-sensei and Yugito-sensei blast him? There's no way that he's going to get up from a double blast like that!" Omoi said with a grin. Karui, for once, seemed to agree with her teammate.

'**All they did was piss him off, a lot.**' Kyuubi said to Naruto.

As if to prove the demon's point. Twin blasts of lightning shot out of the still smoldering cloud that had been kicked up around Bahamut when he was hit. Both of the giant demons were unable to avoid the attacks and while Bee only lost three of his tails, Yugito was hit directly in one of her arms and the limb was completely destroyed. Both fell to the ground in agony. Bee was able to climb to his feet but regretted it as Bahamut was staring in his direction.

As the dust cloud lifted, it was revealed that while he had indeed been hurt by the attack, as Kyuubi stated, he was more pissed than injured. Several small bruises could be seen on his black glossy armor but they were superficial at best.

Bahamut said nothing as he appeared in front of Killer Bee and grabbed him by one of his remaining tails. He swung the giant demon, first into Yugito, knocking the downed feline back from the blow. He then slammed Bee into the cliff so hard that the entire mountain shook. Bee was soon buried under the rocks that crumpled from the blow.

Bahamut turned and opened his mouth, shooting out a giant blast of lightning that hit Yugito full on. She cried out as her giant form was destroyed and the unconscious, smoking, and nearly dead body of the cloud jonin was left to float in the water. Bahamut looked down at her and was about to finish her off when he turned and grabbed Bee. The giant ox had subtly escaped his rocky prison and tried to skewer Bahamut from behind.

Bahamut gripped the horn that was meant to impale him and picked the giant ox up with both hands. With a roar he swung and once again slammed Bee into the mountain side. This time, however, Bee broke through to the other side. Such was the strength of the blow.

'**Bee he's too strong!**' the eight tailed ox shouted to his dazed and injured container.

'I know but what else can we do? Can't you see, it's not like we can flee!' Bee rapped even in his dazed state.

'Of **all the containers out there I had to be sealed in this idiot! Am I really going to die with him?**' Hachibi wondered to himself.

Bahamut, seeing that Bee wasn't going anywhere fast, turned to his first downed prey. Yugito was even now being pulled from the water by Samui, whom had quickly gone to try and rescue her teammate. Caring nothing about the situation, Bahamut called down a bolt of lightning to take out both women. He was surprised to see Kurenai jump in the way and wielding her Kiba blades, she was able to absorb and redirect the blast back towards the sky. Kurenai's arms fell to the side and she could feel them going numb from the force of the attack.

Bahamut had had enough with the interruptions and decided to take out all three at once. However, he was once again interrupted, this time by a fire ball that hit him in the face. He turned to look at his brother. Drac had finally been able to lift himself off of the ground but it was only by a few feet and by the looks of him, he was going to pass out, or die, at any moment.

"**That you survived my first attack is surprising enough brother. That you have the strength to still foolishly defy me only shows how much you've grown in power since last I saw you. Tell me, why do you fight beside the humans?**" Bahamut asked, truly seeking an answer. While he was understandably angered that his brother had, and continued to attack and stand against him, he wanted to know why he chose to risk his life for lesser beings.

"**You wouldn't understand brother.**" Drac said.

"**I suppose not. However Drac, I am feeling generous and seek to reward you on how much you've grown. Leave here now and I will forgive your earlier transgressions against me.**" Bahamut said.

"**Don't do me any favors! You are worse than the demons and the humans you despise. You say that we are above them and yet you fall to the same shortcomings as them. Your pride has you so sure that you are better than any and everyone around but in all actuality you are lower than them all. You are no brother of mine!**" Drac said as he began to glow red. His wound cauterized from the heat coming off of him and his eyes turned a blood red from his rage. Drac was still one of the dragon lords and being attacked form behind, even from a family member was a blow to his pride and an insult that he would not allow to go unpunished.

"**Foolish little brother.**" Bahamut said as his tail swung and struck Drac in the head. The dragon lord was knocked into the lake and Bahamut quickly grabbed him by the throat. He threw Drac into the air and called down two bolts of lightning that hit Drac in the wings. His cry of pain was loud and as he didn't use them to break his fall, it was obvious that they were no longer of any use.

"**You are an embarrassment to yourself and to our family. You are correct that you are no longer any brother of mine. I will correct my earlier mistake. I assumed that that attack was strong enough to kill you. I will ensure that you no longer breathe before moving on to the rest of these insects!**" Bahamut said as he brought Drac to his face and sent thousands upon thousands of volts of electricity through his body. Drac pained cries echoed throughout the field.

"Leave him alone!" Naruto shouted. He felt so defenseless. He could do nothing to help his friend. He was far too low on chakra to use any of his attacks and even if he could they wouldn't do anything. Without his sword, he couldn't call upon the other dragons, nor could he communicate with them. Naruto clutched the pommel of his once mighty sword and turned to look at his fellow ninja.

None of them had any answer for the young chunin.

**(Mindscape)**

"**We can't allow this to go on!**" Tetsuya shouted in rage. Her concern for Drac heavily outweighing her fear of Bahamut.

"**What can we do though? With the beacon destroyed, Naruto can't summon us to that plane to aid them.**" Vasuki said in a troubled tone. He too desperately wanted to intervene.

"**How was Drac able to do it then? The blade was destroyed before he summoned himself.**" Adalinda said, her voice a bit strained, showing her own concern.

"**It seems that he inadvertently drew upon the remaining amounts of divine chakra flowing through Naruto's body that was placed in him by Hinata.**" Tatsuo said.

"**Can we do the same?**" Tetsuya shouted, ready to do battle.

"**There's only enough left in him for two of us to go. If anymore try then it's quite possible that the strain will be too much and he'll die. As it is, he won't be of much use after we do this.**" Tatsuo said.

"**Who is going to go then? We need to decide quickly.**" Vasuki said.

"**It should be you and Tatsuo.**" Adalinda said in a definitive tone.

"**What? Why do they get to go and I'm left out? Tatsuo is more likely to watch everyone die and take a nap then help!**" Tetsuya asked angrily.

"**Both of us would be of no good. There isn't a large enough body of water close by for me to be able to fight and even if there was, what good would I be against our brother who will not be afraid to hurl lightning bolts at use when we interfere? As for you Tetsuya, you wouldn't be of much help either. Bahamut is well and truly beyond any of us but Vasuki's control of wind puts him at an elemental advantage and if Tatsuo really tries, he has the best chance of slowing Bahamut down. You'll only get in the way sister.**" Adalinda said, addressing all of the current dragons.

"**Hmph, Bahamut has always been a loose cannon. Dealing with him is going to be very troublesome.**" Tatsuo said with a grunt of annoyance.

"**We don't have any other choice. Let's go!**" Vasuki said as both he and Tatsuo disappeared.

"**Do you think they can beat him?**" Tetsuya asked her older sister. As cold and hard as Adalinda was, even she didn't have the stomach for Bahamut's brutal methods.

"**I don't know. You and Drac are the youngest of us and neither of you have ever really seen what Bahamut is capable of. In fact neither have I. the only one strong enough to be around the same battle field when he really lets loose was Tatsuo and you know how he is about sharing information.**" Adalinda said as she and Tetsuya once again turned their gazes upon the battle.

**(Battle field)**

'There's got to be something I can do!' Naruto thought. He suddenly looked at his sword and saw that the brown and green gems were beginning to glow.

'What's going on?' Naruto thought before he felt all his remaining strength leave his body. Naruto fell forward, unconscious.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she grabbed him. Suddenly two bright lights shot into the sky. Bahamut stopped his ruthless assault on Drac and looked to the sky.

Suddenly Vasuki appeared before them all. Vasuki had a powerful body that was a strange green color. His chest was a vibrant yellow and his wings were covered in feathers that varied from red, yellow, and green colors. His eyes were a bright yellow and a green jewel, like his siblings, was on his forehead.

"**Stop this brother! You disgrace us all with this behavior.**" Vasuki shouted.

"**Vasuki so you were able to arrive as well. However, I saw another flash who came with you?**" Bahamut asked as he looked around for another of his siblings. Tatsuo was actually hovering over the still downed Killer Bee.

"**Been a long time Hachibi. How's that horn treating you?**" the earth dragon asked.

'**Tatsuo! Bee get up and kill that old gezzer!**' the ox shouted to his container, whom was still trying to regain his composure.

Bee was slowly getting to his feet and turned his eyes to the hovering Tatsuo. He was at first understandably apprehensive at seeing another of the ancient beasts. Considering that his brother had just gotten through taking both he and Yugito out with minimal effort, Bee wasn't sure whether Tatsuo' appearance was a gift or a curse.

"**Are you with him?**" Bee asked, preparing himself should he be facing another opponent. There was little he would be able to do about it in his state but he refused to give up and die.

"**Not right now. Also, I'm sure that old stubborn ox is yelling at you right now about me. Tell him to shut up and get over it. It's been about 300 years, you think he would have let that grudge go.**" Tatsuo said to Bee.

'**Let me rip off one of your wings and we'll call it even you lizard!**' Hachibi shouted in Bee's head.

'I think we have more pressing concerns right now.' Bee said, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the moment at being a middle man between the two old enemies.

"**So you have shown up as well Tatsuo? For what purpose have you appeared? I thought you most of all would care nothing for these humans and there is no love lost between you and the eight tailed demon.**" Bahamut said as he carelessly threw Drac towards the fast approaching Vasuki. The wind dragon caught his younger brother and gently set him beside the grouped ninja.

"**You should all leave now. We will deal with him. You'd only being needlessly risking your lives.**" He said. Hinata was holding up the unconscious Naruto while the cloud ninja were grouped around their fallen leader. A had yet to lose consciousness but he wouldn't be moving any time soon. Kakashi was currently with Kurenai and Shino as they moved to aid Hinata.

"I'm not going anywhere." A muttered.

"You don't seem to be in any shape to say that." Kurenai said with a glare, having had enough of the stubborn man's attitude. It was his fault this whole thing had happened anyway.

"I am the leader of my village. I must take responsibility for what's happened and if that means that I die here than I'll make sure he won't be able to harm my village." A said with as much strength as his broken body could muster.

"Admirable, but irrelevant. You'd do nothing but die and your village would still be razed to the ground. This battle is beyond anything you could hope to muster. You should accompany us. If an evacuation is necessary then the village will need its leader to be there to ensure that everything goes smoothly." Shino said, finally speaking up. It was by far the most he had spoken since coming to the village and it caught the cloud ninja by surprise.

"Raikage-sama, I must agree with the Aburame. With yourself and Yugito injured, we should retreat back to the village and allow Bee-sensei and the others to attempt to do what we cannot. As it stands, no lightning attack will work and that leaves us all at a severe disadvantage." Samui stated calmly. Samui was also not one known for speaking a great deal and thus her words were always taken with the utmost respect, even from A himself. Shino nodded his thanks to the woman for agreeing with him.

"Very well." A said with a sigh. Samui and Omoi helped move the injured Kage while Karui held the still unconscious Yugito.

"We will accompany you." Kakashi spoke up. Kurenai nodded to the others and while Shino moved to them Hinata did not move.

"I'm afraid we can't leave Kakashi-sensei." She said, never taking her eyes away from Bahamut. The lightning dragon had yet to stop talking to Tatsuo. However, she was quite aware that he could attack them at a split second and she wasn't going to drop her guard.

"What? Why not?" Kurenai asked.

"Drac won't survive long and I might be able to help him. Besides, Naruto-kun would just race back here the moment he wakes up." She replied.

"Hinata you are not staying here. I'm afraid that that is an order!" Kakashi said, any hint of his normal aloof personality gone at the steel in his voice. They were not even remotely capable of handling Bahamut and he knew that the only reason they still lived was because he hadn't yet decided to end their existence. Even with Hinata's power, he had no doubt that Bahamut could and would kill her if he felt like it.

"I'm afraid I have to refuse." Hinata said softly.

"**Kakashi-san, it might be best if you do as she says. I admit that my request is a bit biased as she is indeed correct about my brother. He won't last long and I am unable to take him back to our plane as I will not be able to return.**" Vaskui said.

"Regardless, I can't in good conscious leave them here." Kakashi said.

"**Vasuki! If the humans are so distracting then I'll gladly remove their interference.**" Bahamut growled. It was obvious that he was through talking to Tatsuo and had turned his attention back to the other dragon that had appeared before him.

"**Sandstorm**" Tatsuo said softly as a giant, blinding cloud of sand surrounded Tatsuo, Hachibi and Bahamut.

"**Make a decision!**" Vasuki shouted as he flew into the sandstorm to help his brother.

"It looks like we don't have a choice. We'll stay and help you Hinata. The rest of you should get back to your village." Kakashi said with his ususal eye smile.

"You're all going to stay? You'll be killed!" Karui shouted in surprise.

"Konoha ninja stick together. It's what we do." Kakashi said as Hinata nodded her thanks and they all rushed over to the downed Drac.

"Fools all of them." Karui muttered, unable to comprehend running back to face such a creature.

"But if they make it back then they're heroes." Omoi countered.

"Enough, we must hurry." Samui ordered as the cloud jonin's eyes remained fixed on the retreating ninja for a few more seconds.

Vasuki entered the sandstorm and slammed into Bahamut as the lightning dragon was preparing to attack Tatsuo. The storm had been created by Tatsuo simply to hide Naruto and the others. Vasuki could feel the power of Bahamut and had no problem finding him in the giant cloud of sand. Vasuki unleashed a powerful gale of wind into Bahamut's back, sending the older dragon plummeting into the waiting Tatsuo.

"**Been a long time since I tried this.**" Tatsuo thought to himself as he called up a giant spike of earth that struck Bahamut in the chest. The spike failed to penetrate the hard armor of the black dragon but the force it exerted was more than enough to stun him. Bee took this moment to make his own entrance.

"**Bee's back baby!**" He shouted as he appeared above Bahamut. He had been given enough time to full charge another tailed beast bomb, though this time he decided to leave it in its condensed sphere form for a more effective attack. He launched the powerful attack into Bahamut's back, sending the giant dragon to crash into the thick mountains. The resulting explosion from the ball of chakra releasing itself was blinding.

"**Think we got him?**" Bee said as his breathing began to turn labored. Using so much chakra at once, along with his injuries, was beginning to wear on his stamina.

"**Oh he definitely felt that one.**" Vasuki said though he didn't sound too pleased with this.

"**And he's definitely done playing around as well.**" Tatsuo said with a sigh.

"**That was playing around?**" Bee shouted, in fear.

"**He hasn't been on this world for quite a while. I'd wager he was simply enjoying himself earlier. Now he's not going to stop until we're all dead. How annoying.**" Tatsuo said.

"**How do you know that?**" Bee asked.

"**That ox inside of you should be able to remember the last time Bahamut and Kyuubi went at it. We were both there when that battle took place and they more or less destroyed a continent.**" The earth dragon responded.

"**Time's up.**" Vasuki said as a giant burst of lightning shot out of the hole Bahamut had made and his loud roar of anger was released a second later.

"**Enough of this! Stand against me and die!**" Bahamut said as the sky once again began to light up with the strikes of lightning bolts.

"**Hope you guys have a few bright ideas.**" Bee said as he shivered. Bahamut had turned his silver eyes on him.

"**Unfortunately this is a family affair Hachibi. It's time for you to go.**" The giant dragon said as a giant lightning bolts shot from the sky towards Bee. A giant wall of rock erupted from the ground and blocked the bolt long enough for Bee to jump out of the way.

"**I never thought I would see the day that you would protect him Tatsuo.**" Bahamut said momentarily surprised by the earth dragon's defense of a long time hated rival.

"**Desperate times.**" Tatsuo said in a grumpier tone than normal. It appeared that he too was surprised by his quick defense of the eight tailed demon and was a bit annoyed that he had done it.

'**Bee give me control.**" Hachibi said to his container. The giant ox had never really pestered Bee about wanting control or to escape after Bee had proven himself to be the perfect vessel. However, Bee didn't have the experience to truly use the demon's full power. Bee might have been considered a perfect container but he was still human and humans could only perceive so much and the full depth of his power was not something that Bee could ever hope to fully control. If they were to have a chance, Bee would have to let Hachibi take over.

"**I trust you my friend, it's you and me until the bitter end!**" Bee said as he allowed Hachibi's mind to take over control of their body.

"**Finally out!** **It feels good to stretch my legs for a bit!**" The eight tailed demon shouted as he moved his body a bit. He immediately regenerated his destroyed tails and all the dragon could feel a new depth of power radiating from the beast.

"**So you finally took control for a while? Took you long enough you slacker.**" Tatsuo said with a snort.

"**Be grateful that we have a common foe you old lizard! If not then I would already have you dead at my feet!**" the giant demon snarled at his long hated foe.

"**It's good to dream.**" Tatsuo said dismissively. Bahamut had had enough of listening to the two bicker, even if it was amusing to him and decided to attack.

Both beasts jumped to the side to avoid the giant bolt of lightning that had been aimed at them and returned their attention to the matter at hand. Vasuki attacked from behind, but Bahamut's swift tail wrapped around his throat and threw him towards Tatsuo. As the earth dragon grabbed his younger sibling, Bahamut appeared in front of the eight tailed demon and shot twin bursts of energy from his hands.

However, unlike when Bee was in control, Hachibi had more experience in combat against dragons and thus was able to avoid the attack in time. He shot small chakra blasts at his opponent and while they were easily batted away, it had given the two brothers enough time to regroup and attack together.

Vasuki unleashed a harsh wing that pushed the large boulders Tatsuo has created at dangerous speeds towards Bahamut. The lightning dragon closed his wings in front of him and the armored protection stopped the attack from doing any significant damage. Hachibi took advantage of the momentary distraction and moved behind the preoccupied dragon. He called waited until Bahamut moved his wings apart and before he could attack his brothers, Hachibi shot a cloud of ink that covered his foe from head to toe.

"**Let's see you shoot lightning when you can't see a thing!**" the eight tailed demon said with a smirk. He was wiped away when Bahamut's enraged gaze turned to him.

"**Fool**." He said simply as his tail suddenly tore through Hachibi's chest. The eight tails looked down at the appendage in shock. He had never seen the blow coming.

"**No more running.**" Bahamut sneered as he unleashed a burst of energy that hit the giant demon head on.

Hachibi could only give a small cry before his giant mass was slowly but surely disintegrated by the attack. He was just barely able to center his remaining power around Bee. The hardened shell of demonic chakra withstood the attack before both he and Bee lost consciousness. The injured and unmoving body of Killer Bee fell to the rocks and didn't move.

"**One down. Now that that distraction is out of the way, you should explain yourselves.**" Bahamut said without looking at his downed opponent. He knew that Bee was alive but cared nothing about it at the moment. He would extinguish his life along with all the others that resided in the cloud village. He was more focused on his brothers.

Though not strong enough to defeat him, he really didn't want to kill them. He always looked upon Drac as an overly accepting and to be quite honest annoying sibling that seemed to have no pride in his lineage. That he would care years ago about causing little collateral damage when fighting either the Shukaku or the two tails cat so as not to injure the humans was idiotic to Bahamut. The humans were inconsequential and should have been treated as such. The only reason Kami had ordered them to this plane to attack the demons was to keep them from running amok long enough for the humans to figure out a way to deal with the demons themselves.

He had been resting in a form of hibernation for decades as had his siblings but unlike them, he refused to awaken when the beacon was once again activated as he saw no point in returning to the mortal realm. That had all changed when he felt the small crack in the blade. It had sent reverberations through their realm and Bahamut had awakened. It had taken all of a second to get caught up on what had taken place and he decided to return and destroy all who were shown before him whether they be human or demon. To see such a lowly human holding the weapon was an offense that Bahamut refused to allow to continue and so he destroyed it with a large burst of his chakra as he summoned himself.

He expected the humans to quiver at his appearance and smiled to himself when he realized that not one or two but three of the nine demons were present in their vessels. He thought it poetic justice that the demons would be bound to creatures that, in Bahamut's mind, were even less than they.

What he didn't expect was for Drac to interfere with his attack on the human who had the gall to not only touch the sacred beacon but to talk to him as if they were equals. He had had enough with his brother's sympathetic, soft heart. Drac was an embarrassment to their race that needed to be eliminated. However, for Tatsuo and Vasuki to appear before him to stand with Drac was the ultimate surprise. Tatsuo didn't seem to care for the humans anymore that he and while Vasuki was more like Drac, he would never actually stand up and oppose Bahamut openly, he knew the consequences for such an act.

"**There's nothing to explain brat. The fact remains that the boy has the sword and there is obviously a reason for that. While I might not like it, the boy has a power about him that is unique in comparison to other humans. This is Kami's will, Bahamut.**" Tatsuo stated.

"**Listen to yourself. You've grown senile old man. We are the ones that were created to keep the world from plunging into darkness for centuries as the humans hid in the dark in fear! It was our responsibility to protect this planet and now you tell me that our very purpose for creation has been handed over to the beings that used to be afraid of their own shadows?**" Bahamut snarled in anger and a bit of shame.

"**Is that what this is about? Your hurt pride? How annoying. The strongest of us is also the most sensitive.**" Tatsuo said in an annoyed snort. He received a strong punch in the face from Bahamut for the statement. The lightning dragon was the fastest of them and his rage had made him decide to stop holding back.

"**You might be able to put your head down and submit to lesser beings but I refuse to be subdued!**" Bahamut roared.

"**You take things too far brother! To attack and attempt to kill Drac simply because of your feelings is atrocious! You're no better than the very beings you despise so much!**" Vasuki shouted as he sent a wave of wind blades at the giant beast. Bahamut's corresponding lightning attack was actually defeated by Vasuki's and he once again had to use his wings to defend against the wind attack.

"**You can't beat me Vasuki. Despite the elemental advantage you have, it doesn't change the fact that you don't the strength to defeat me. Submit!**" Bahamut said. He demonstrated his claim by shooting out a blast of energy form one clawed hand. Vasuki quickly brought up a wind shield, only for the defense to be pierced and a part of the wind dragon's wing to be hit. Bahamut went to capitalize on this but stopped shot to avoid being hit by three giant boulders that were coming his way. He turned to see that Tatsuo had once again brought himself back into the fight.

"**You still have a lot to learn.**" Tatsuo said in a tone that was both angered and also a bit of pity.

"**I know enough to take you both down.**" Bahamut said as Tatsuo and Vasuki came at him from both sides.

Meanwhile, the konoha ninja were around the downed and dying Drac. Naruto had yet to awaken and was laid beside his long time friend and companion. Hinata was currently standing over the large wound on his chest and felt despair. Despite her words earlier, she had no idea how to save the quickly deteriorating dragon. Her powers of healing had improved over the years but that was in regards to humans. Drac was so large that she didn't think anything she could do would make a difference.

"Hinata can you do anything for him?" Kurenai asked as Kakashi kept a close eye on the warring dragons. While Bahamut seemed to be ignoring them at the moment, that could change at any moment and he wanted to be ready.

"I-I don't know." She whispered softly. This was far above her ability to heal and she didn't even know where to start.

'**Calm yourself Hinata.**' Hitomi said to her charge. The angelic agent had trained Hinata for three years and knew the young girl very well. Despite her great development, there were times that Hinata allowed self doubt to overwhelm her.

HInata took a deep breath and activated her powers. She winced at the state they told Drac to be in. While he wouldn't bleed out after cauterizing the wound that did nothing for the internal damage the initial strike had caused. Add to it the subsequent damage from Bahamut and Drac truly was at death's door. That he was alive at all was something of a miracle.

Hinata listened to Hitomi and expanded her powers as best she could through Drac. She could do nothing for the wound itself. It was simply beyond her ability to heal. However, she did find something promising. Drac, was not originally from the human realm and like summoned creatures, and there was something like a link between their realm and the human's. When summoned creatures returned to their realm, it was by the use of this link. This also helped to keep them from dying while aiding their summoner as the more experienced summoned animals were able to access the link and return home in the split second it took for them to realize that they were in mortal danger.

Drac hadn't done this because he wasn't conscious and couldn't access the link. But Hinata could. She could clearly see it with her byakugan. It looked like a small gold colored ribbon that was connected to Drac jewel.

'I might be able to send him back to his realm. I'm not sure if it will make any difference but it's better than having him die here.' Hinata thought. She used Hitomi's guidance and sent all of the chakra she could spare into the link. Drac began to glow but remained where he lay.

'**Concentrate Hinata! You must do this now.**' Hitomi said sternly. Hinata didn't reply as she continued to send a steady flow of her divine chakra through the link. It was tricky because while she had to use large amounts of chakra, she also had to control it just right to work. Fortunately, Hinata was a former Hyuga and had some of the best chakra control in the village. The glow around Drac was large enough that it grabbed the attention of the still fighting dragons.

Bahamut turned just in time to see the small female wield the power of the angels to send Drac back to their realm. While death was still a large possibility, it was no longer guaranteed. Bahamut was actually having a hard time deciding whether or not his eyes had fooled him as he couldn't comprehend a human being both blessed with the power of the angels as well as having the necessary chakra and control to do a reverse summoning.

Hinata fell to the ground utterly exhausted. It felt like she hadn't slept in days. She could barely keep her eyes open and knew, given the current situation, that this was a potentially fatal position to be in.

"**So not only do the humans infringe upon us but the angels as well!**" Bahamut's rage was palpable and the look in his eyes showed the same disdain for Hinata as he had for Naruto. He turned his back on his brothers and focused on the humans as a whole. The older woman was helping the girl that used a power she had no business possessing. The elder male was still watching him warily while the remaining child noticed his attention's shift and seemed to be contemplating what, if anything, he could do if Bahamut truly deemed to kill both Hinata and Naruto. At some point, the humans had grabbed the unconsciousness body of the eight tailed container.

"**You're blind.**" Tatsuo stated.

"**Care to repeat that?**" Bahamust said softly.

"**Are you that bad of hearing? And here I thought I was the old one.**" Tatsuo said a bit tiredly. It had been a long time since he had gone all out and he was a bit irked to realize that it still didn't amount to much. Bahamut was feared by the others for a good reason. He was as powerful as he was cold and despite his earlier words about killing them, Tatsuo could still tell that Bahamut didn't really want him dead. Vasuki however was a different story as he and Drac were always the two that sympathized with the humans the most. Tatsuo's indifference made him one of the favored siblings along with Adalinda.

"**You need to get over yourself. Everything in this world isn't black and white. Humans are no longer subservient but instead have become the rulers of this world. They have found ways to deal with the demons that plague them thus our presence was no longer necessary until recently. Look past your own hatred and think for a moment. The beacon would not come to this world unless there was once again a problem that required our assistance.**" Tatsuo said for the first time his voice was passionate as he tried to make his brother understand.

"**I see that the years have made you senile brother.**" Bahamut said as he closed his eyes. He actually seemed a bit upset.

"**I will remember you as you were and not as the weakling that is before me now.**" Bahamut said as he began to glow with power.

'**He's resorting to that?**' Vasuki thought in terror as he flew in front of the grouped ninja. His jewel glowed a bright green as he called upon his full power. Bahamut was soon glowing so brightly that no one could even see him anymore. Only the large, and still growing, orb of power was visible. It shot outwards in a wave of destruction that decimated all that stood in the way.

Vasuki sought to unleash the strongest wind attack in his arsenal to halt the coming wave of death but his heart sank when he realized that he had neither the time nor the strength to stop Bahamut's assault. He turned to look at the humans that he was trying to protect and felt helpless for the first time in his long existence.

"**You need to have more faith in yourself brat.**"

Vasuki turned and was shocked to see that Tatsuo was in front of him. The earth dragon's own gem was glowing and what could only be called a mountain was slowly rising from the earth. Vasuki could see that Tatsuo was using all his concentration and strength to move the giant defense in place before Bahamut's attack hit. Earth was the most stubborn of the elements and didn't like to move quickly, that the mountain was rising at all was a testament to Tatsuo's control over it. The mountain set in place just as the wave of electricity hit. Bahamut's attack quickly ate into the defense and began to destroy it. Tatsuo concentrated all the more and hardened the earth as much as he could to try and hold the attack back until it ran out of energy. It was a tall order and was swiftly draining him. Just as cracks could be seen on the wall in front of them, the attack ended and Tatsuo allowed the mountain to fall.

"**That took more out of me than I thought I would. I really must be getting old.**" Tatsuo stated tiredly. Vasuki could see that the old beast was barely flying and knew that he had spent what he had left saving them all.

"**Impressive brother. Most impressive, but you only delay your demise. Return to our realm now while you still have the chance.**" Bahamut said as he could finally be seen from the giant orb of energy once it had expended its power.

"**Even after an attack like that he doesn't seem all that drained. How annoying.**" Tatsuo said with a sigh.

"**Vasuki, get them out of here. I'll hold him off while you escape.**" Tatsuo said.

"**You can't beat him alone you need me here.**" Vasuki pointed out.

"**You'll get in the way! Now get them out of here!**" Tatsuo roared for the first time losing his patience.

Vasuki could see that Bahamut was making no move to stop him from ushering the ninja on his back. He believed it was because the dragon lord of lightning saw none of them as any kind of a threat and knew he could kill them at his leisure. It was insulting but he wasn't in a position to do anything about it. Once the leaf ninja were on his back, Vasuki turned to Tatsuo and nodded to him as he took off towards the lightning village.

"**You sacrifice yourself for them. I never thought that Drac's weakness would infect you as well.**" Bahamut stated. Tatsuo and Adalinda were the two siblings he actually cared for. He respected Tatsuo's age and power and Adalinda was more like him in temperament when it came to the humans. Killing Drac wouldn't make him bat an eye. Tetsuya and Vasuki would give him pause but he knew he could kill them as well without any truly negative feelings in the end should they stand against him. Adalinda and Tatsuo, though, were the two he truly didn't want to kill.

"**Maybe the kid was on to something for all these years. The humans are more than we thought them to be brother. They have something we don't. In the face of overwhelming odds a select few of them somehow are able to rise above all opposition and accomplish things far beyond their abilities. Kami gave them dominion over this plane for a reason. Who are we to go against his will?**" Tatsuo said with a pant as he could no longer stay air borne and fell to the earth. He looked up at Bahamut and could read nothing behind his cold silver eyes.

"**They are undeserving of such a gift! They murder, steal, rape, deceive and do what they want. Do you really think that they will ever know true peace brother? They are like animals. They will always fight and kill over the pettiest of reasons. This world will remain the destructive, oppressive, and broken plane it is now as long as they are allowed to reign over it. They won't change.**" Bahamut stated.

"**Perhaps you're right. However this new kid, Naruto, there's something about him. Maybe he's the one.**" Tatsuo said more to himself than to Bahamut.

"**The kid can't even stand on his own two feet without our power or that of the fox. You know this to be true. Had I not summoned myself, he would have been soundly defeated by the eight tails. He can do nothing but fail like the last one did.**" Bahamut said with a growl of anger at the memory.

"**He didn't fail! Even now he helps the boy to try and succeed where he failed.**" Tatsuo argued.

"**A failure teaching another to be a failure. Yes I can see why you've put your faith in them. Be truthful, you don't believe in him either, why else would you give him such a test.**" Bahamut said sarcastically.

"**I believe in the boy. The test was only to open his own eyes to the power he has within. He still knows nothing about it and might very well have had you not interceded.**" Tatsuo said.

"**Enough of this squabbling. I will go and end the latest scum to touch the beacon and level that village to the ground. Once again the humans will know of our power and rightly fear us. We will be the agents of peace and all that oppose our peace will die.**" Bahamut said as he turned his back of Tatsuo. The elder dragon could no longer even fly. There was no chance of him being a threat any longer. Bahamut would spare him.

"**I'm the earth dragon and yet you are the most stubborn of us all.**" Tatsuo stated angrily. He was bone tired but he still had once ace up his sleeve he was unsure if it would work, to be truthful he was quite sure it would fail but it would at least give them more time. His gem once again glowed brightly and he concentrated everything he had left on his last attack.

Bahamut stopped and turned to see what Tatsuo was up to. He had already expended all that he had stopping his last attack and was unsure what his eldest brother sought to accomplish. He felt the earth shift and heard a rumbling beneath the surface of the lake he was floating over.

'**An earthquake? What does he hope to accomplish?**" Bahamut thought before his scenes warned him of the coming danger. He prepared to move out of the way only to have Tatsuo fly up and grab him in a tight embrace.

A giant column of hot magma shot up from the lake and consumed them. The molten rock had been called to the surface by Tatsuo's power and caught Bahamut completely by surprise. The attack soon stopped but the magma quickly cooled and hardened leaving a layer of hardened rock over everything it had consumed. The giant column of rock began to crack and soon Bahamut burst from it with a flash of his power.

He was no longer unscathed however. He had burns all along his body and one of his wings was heavily damaged, making flight difficult. He snarled in cold fury as he turned to look from the prison he had broken from Tatsuo's unmoving form was still laying there. His body was also covered in burns and it was unlikely he would be able to completely recover. He had used up all of his energy and could even return himself back to their plane.

Bahamut cared about none of this.

Tatsuo had officially used up all of Bahamut's good will. The lighting dragon opened his mouth and gathered his energy. He shot a concentrated blast of energy at Tatsuo's unmoving form.

'**Guess this is it. At least I can go out doing something beneficial for once.**' Tatsuo thought to himself as he felt the attack connect and his very being beginning to disintegrate away. Tatsuo reached inside of himself and grabbed what remained of his life force and sent it to the surrounding area. Once finished, his body was completely consumed.

"**Goodbye brother.**" Bahamut said as he felt the disappearance of Tatsuo within his very soul.

'**It's the humans fault!**' Bahamut said to himself. He hated himself for what he had done but he would never admit that it was his own actions that caused it. Instead he projected the blame onto Naruto and the others and his hate for them burned all the stronger.

"**Once I am done with them this whole world shall know my fury!**" Bahamut roared to the heavens as his lightning powers were unleashed and completely destroyed the landscape.

**(Near the lightning village)**

Vasuki felt the death of Tatsuo like a knife to the heart. He felt fresh tears flow down his face. How could Bahamut do it? First Drac and now Tatsuo? When would his madness end?

He felt something strange then, through the pain. He felt Tatsuo's essence and saw a bright light on his back. The konoha ninja were looking in the distance at the lightning that was reaching from the heavens to the earth and heard the loud roar. They could tell what the outcome of the battle had been. Inside of Bee, the now conscious Hachibi was also aware of his rival's death.

'**Stupid of lizard. You're the last one I would think would become the self sacrificing type. How dare you die by someone else's hand but mine!**' Hachibi shouted in anger. He may have hated Tatsuo but he respected the old dragon to death.

All of the ninja turned when they saw a glow encompass Naruto. The golden light swirled around his body and finally went to the handle of his sword. In a bright flash of brown light, the sword was reconstructed to its pristine glory.

However, the brown gem that represented Tatsuo, the dragon lord of the earth was gone.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 12. I'm sorry just doesn't seem like enough for the amount of time that has gone by. I just started my new job and have had no time to write for the past few weeks. I hope this one holds you over for a while. I'm not sure when the next chapter will come up but I will try to have it to you in a few weeks.**

**So let's recap.**

**Drac is on death's door and Tatsuo is dead. Bahamut pointing his renewed rage at the lightning village and won't stop there until his razed the world. Sucks to be Naruto right now!**

**Still the sword is back and things will be coming to a head next chapter. Hold on tight because it will be the end of this arc and things are about to get crazy! How am I going to end all of this? Will more characters die?**

**That is a secret! Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	13. Chapter 13

**LND 13**

**(Lightning village)**

"Hurry up and evacuate! Leave that stuff!" Karui shouted to a pair of civilians who were trying to take some of their valuables with them.

The entire village was being evacuated into the hidden caves in the surrounding mountains. The ninja had been briefed on what was coming and while many thought the idea of a real dragon coming to lay waste to their village was insane, the beaten bodies of Yugito and their Kage was enough to convince them.

The ninja being deployed at the gates saw a giant figure flying toward them and prepared to unleash their jutsu when they were halted by Samui. The elite jonin had remained at the gate to await the arrival of the Konoha ninja.

"I suppose that explosion of lightning we saw earlier is a bad sign." She stated as Vasuki lowered himself to the ground and allowed the leaf ninja to jump off of his back.

"**Tatsuo is gone.**" Vasuki said lowly to the surprise of the present ninja.

"He went back to your realm?" Kurenai asked.

"No Bahamut killed him." Hinata said softly.

"How do you know that Hinata?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

"I felt him die, also he's the reason that Naruto-kun's sword is back." She replied calling everyone's attention to the newly fixed blade.

"**With the last of his strength, he fixed what Bahamut destroyed.**" Vasuki confirmed.

"What do we do? Naruto has yet to awaken and I doubt Bahamut is going to leave us alone." Kurenai asked as the Raikage, Omoi and Karui arrived. A group of medics took Bee's injured body and began to work on him immediately.

"How long do we have?" A asked the ninja. He was still covered in wounds but the worst of them seemed to have been dealt with and he was ready to do anything to protect his village.

"**Tatsuo was able to injure him slightly. Despite that he will be here in about ten minutes at his current speed.**" Vasuki supplied.

"That's not enough time! We have thousands of people to move into the mountains passes. We'll be sitting ducks!" Karui shouted in alarm.

"I doubt he'd be content in destroying an empty village anyway. He'd probably level the mountains as well to ensure that nothing and no one survived." Shino said.

"I concur." Samui stated as she, once again, supported the Aburame.

"Anyone have a plan then?" Kakashi asked.

"We stop him before he gets here."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said in surprise and relief as the young chunin she had been holding up lifted his head up. He seemed groggy but the determination in his blue eyes was evident to everyone.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" A asked the newly awakened ninja.

"I'll figure it out when I get to it." Naruto said as he gave HInata a quick kiss on the cheek and took his weight off of her to stand on his own.

"Naruto you weren't aware of what Bahamut is capable of. He batted both demons around like they were nothing and not even Vasuki and Tatsuo together could stop him. I don't think there's anything that can hurt him." Kurenai said with a bit of resignation in her voice.

"Won't know until we try. Besides what other options do we have?" Naruto said.

"You're either brave or a fool boy and I'm tempted to go with the latter." A said.

"You worry about your people. Leave Bahamut to us. Vaskui are there any weaknesses at all that we can exploit?" Naruto asked.

"**If I knew of any do you really believe that I would have kept quiet about them until now?**" the dragon of wind asked.

"Good point." Naruto said as his face twisted in a scowl. He took a step towards the direction that Bahamut was coming and stumbled. He would have fallen had Hinata not grabbed him at the last minute.

"Naruto-kun, you're chakra is still dangerously low. You still need a lot of rest to replenish yourself." Hinata said as she used a quick gaze with her byakugan to observe his current chakra system.

"I know but the one thing he hates the most right now is me right? Then I'll go as bait and lure him away from the village, this should give you enough time to get everyone away safely." He suggested.

"You don't really think we'll allow you to do this alone do you Naruto? We're coming with you." Kakashi said with a smirk under his mask.

"Shino remain here and aid with the evacuation. Your insects would do no good against this foe." Kurenai said. Shino nodded though he did give his own opinion on the best plan they should follow. The Konoha ninja listened intently to him. They respected Shino's planning as it was second only to Shikamaru amongst the new chunin corps.

"That's a good idea Shino." Naruto said with a smirk as his brother figure.

Naruto, Hinata, Kurenai and Kakashi jumped on Vasuki's back. Surprisingly, Omoi and Karui leapt on as well.

"We're not going to keep allowing you to defend our village for us. We're going as well." Karui said, daring them to argue.

"Yeah if I'm going to die I might as well die in the company of beautiful women." Omoi stated dully. Naruto glared at the young chunin as Omoi's eyes were on Hinata as he said this.

"Hold on I'm coming too." The ninja turned and saw a dark skinned man walking towards the Raikage.

"Darui? What do you think you're doing?" A asked the elite jonin.

Darui was a highly trained ninja and one of the most powerful in the Cloud village. Darui was dark skinned, tall and had a slightly bulbous nose. He had a lazy look in his eyes and white shaggy hair which covered the left side of his face. He wore a high collared sleeveless uniform, loose fitting pants, bandages on his wrists and the typical flask jacket of the cloud ninja. He also had stylized characters of water and lightning tattooed on his right and left shoulders. He carried a broad foldable, cleaver-like blade on his back.

"Boss, with Bee out of commission, it falls on me to be your right hand. My skills are better used on the battle field and someone needs to go to ensure that Omoi and Karui come back safely." Darui said with his head bowed.

"This is an opponent that even your special jutsu won't be able to defeat Darui." A stated.

"That may be but I'd rather fight then run. I'm sorry if my explanation seems dull but I believe I can make a difference." Darui said, still not looking at A.

"Very well. Do all that you can and either return victorious or dead." A stated. Darui finally looked at his leader and nodded in understanding. He leapt onto Vasuki and prepared himself.

"I've heard of you Kakashi and Kurenai Hatake." He said to the two leaf jonin.

"And I you." Kakashi responded with an evaluating look. Though not threatening, an aura came up around the two elite ninja, not unlike two dominate wolves sizing one another up.

"Now's not the time for this!" Kurenai said as she stood between her husband and the newcomer. The tension dropped as both jonin focused on the task at hand.

"**Hold on!**" Vasuki shouted as he lifted into the air and began to head towards his enraged brother's quickly approaching position.

Naruto, meanwhile, had his eyes closed and entered into his mindscape.

**(Mindscape)**

Naruto stood in front of the cage that held the nine tailed fox. The giant demon was still pacing in his prison and the fact that he had yet to stop growling was indicative of just how upset he was.

"**Unless you plan to let me out to fight, you don't have a chance boy.**" Kyuubi stated before Naruto could even open his mouth.

"That's not going to happen. The collateral damage the two of you would cause would be even more devastating than what Bahamut would cause alone." Naruto stated.

"**True.**" The fox replied honestly.

"There's got to be something he's weak against! No opponent is unbeatable. Even you were taken down by my father." Naruto said desperate to figure out a way to stop the looming threat.

"**He had help.**" Kyuubi said almost as an afterthought.

"What? Help from whom?" Naruto asked, suddenly very curious. Neither Tsunade nor Jiriaya knew exactly what had happened that day and the fox himself was very tight lipped about it.

"**You've more pressing things to worry about.**" Kyuubi stated as he sensed Bahamut closing in.

"Guess I'll see just how lucky I really am then." Naruto said as he began to fade away.

**(Lighting country)**

Bahamut was flying as fast as his damaged wing would allow him, pure rage clouding his mind. He could vividly feel Tatsuo's death and absence and wanted, no, _needed _to unleash his fury for the ones responsible. The humans had softened his eldest brother's heart and mind turning him into a weak, spineless pet like Drac. He had done what any good sibling would and put Tatsuo out of his misery. Better to die as he was remembered than to allow him to fall deeper and deeper under the human's tricks.

They were dragons! A superior race and breed! Humans should bow down and worship their greatness like they had in the past but now they were being told to submit to the very creatures that had once relied on them for protection? He refused to allow this to happen.

Bahamut sensed Vasuki coming his way. His younger brother did not have the strength to defeat him that much was still apparent, thus Bahamut slowed and waited for Vasuki. If his brother came to apologize for his foolishness and promised to help him wipe out the Cloud village than all would be forgiven. If not then Vasuki would quickly find himself with the same fate that befell Tatsuo and that would soon fall on Drac as well once Bahamut was finished with the humans.

He didn't have to wait long before Vasuki appeared. He had a number of humans on his back, but the one that caught Bahamut's attention was the blond who now held the full repair sword. He had been sure to destroy the blade and he knew that Vasuki himself did not know how to repair it.

'**Tatsuo did you do this? With your last breath you still chose to help the humans? Even in death you will not allow me to keep a fond memory of you.**' Bahamut thought angrily.

"**Why have you returned to me Vasuki? If it's to spout more of your inane words than you have only run towards your death. However, I am not cruel brother. You have brought to me the greatest insult to our kind. Give me the boy and help me destroy the village and all will be forgiven.**" Bahamut said in a clipped tone.

"**No!**" Vasuki shouted as he opened his mouth and shot out a burst of wind. It hit Bahamut in the face and Vasuki took that moment to race in the opposite direction. Bahamut would not allow such a slight to go unpunished and would follow him to the ends of the earth for revenge, which was exactly Vasuki's plan.

"**You have sealed your doom brother!**" Bahamut roared to the heavens. Vasuki swiftly dodged to the right as a huge column of lightning struck from the sky directly in front of him.

"He's pissed." Omoi said simply.

"Do you enjoy stating the obvious?" Karui shouted out in fear as they continued to dodge Bahamut's strikes. Vasuki was the fastest of the dragons, being the lord of wind and air, but Bahamut was not running low on energy at all and continued to follow.

"Okay we've got his attention now what's the plan?" Kurenai shouted over the roar of the wind.

"Our best bet is to lure him into a trap. He's assured to be so focused on Vasuki that we can hide in the mountains and attack him at will. No matter how powerful he is, even he won't be able to fight so many opponents at once." Kakashi said. It was the plan Shino had given them before they left and was the one with the most chance for success.

"You're suggesting guerilla warfare against him?" Darui asked.

"I am unless you have a better idea." Kakashi replied.

"It's a good plan except for one thing. I'm going to remain on Vasuki." Naruto said.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, not at all approving of this. She really wanted him to hide out and regain his strength.

"He's just as focused on me as he is on Vasuki Hinata-chan." Naruto said logically. She nodded silently. She didn't like it but couldn't deny it either.

Under Darui's direction, they headed for a part of the lighting country that was known for its dense cluster of jagged mountains and especially for the dense heavy fog that blanketed the area. This area was known as The Devil's playground. An untold number of people had disappeared in the mountains and those that lived to make it through told hysterical stories about odds shapes moving throughout the fog. They would find themselves walking in circles, hallucinating, and in the worse case, a person would simply disappear in the fog.

It was the perfect and most dangerous place for their purposes.

Vasuki dove into the thick fog and immediately avoided running into the sharp jagged rocks that seemed to suddenly appear.

"I hope we live long enough to even try our plan!" Kurenai shouted as Vasuki barely dodged another rocky obstacle.

"At least the good news is that Bahamut will be dealing with this as well." Naruto said with a grin, as dangerous as the situation was, he couldn't help but feel exhilarated.

Vasuki stopped and dropped off the ninja in teams of three. Darui, Kurenai, and Kakashi went together as did Karui, Hinata, and Omoi. Once they found good hiding places, they prepared themselves. It was truly wishful thinking that Bahamut would at all be deterred in the slightest from entering the Devil's playground and they could all hear the path of destruction that was heading their way. It seemed that Bahamut was taking the direct route in terms of navigating the obstacles by going through them and destroying anything that got in his way.

"**You ready Naruto?**" Vasuki asked his comrade.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I still can't believe that he killed Tatsuo." Naruto said, finding it difficult to comprehend what could possibly cause that giant beast to do such a thing.

"**Bahamut has no mercy for those he considers his enemies. The moment that Drac, Tatsuo and myself stood against him, our lives were forfeit in his mind.**" The dragon lord of air stated. He could feel the fast approach of his brother and quickly rose in the air to avoid a bolt of lightning that had been aimed at his chest. He looked without fear as Bahmut's large form emerged from the dense fog. There were no more words to be said between the brothers. Bahamut opened his mouth and shot out another burst of energy. Vasuki gave a giant flap of his wings and dispersed the attack.

"**Let's go Naruto!**" He shouted as he flew up to dodge another burst of lightning from his brother.

"**Dragon Strike!**" Naruto shouted as he unleashed his favored attack from his blade. The golden dragon shaped attack was easily dwarfed by Bahamut's immense size and the attack did little but further anger the lord of lightning. In fact that attack seemed to affect Naruto worse as he fell to one knee in exhaustion.

"**You're body is still too weak Naruto and your attacks can't hurt him anyway. Remember you're here as a distraction only.**" Vasuki said as he moved back into the fog for safety.

'Then it really is up to everyone else.' Naruto thought grimly as random blasts of lightning shot around them.

"Well, any ideas?" Kakashi asked his wife and unwilling ally.

"I highly doubt any of my genjutsu will work against him really." Kurenai said as she looked on. Bahamut was completely oblivious to their presence.

"Let me give it a try then." Darui said as he began to form hand signs.

"Wait lightning attacks won't work on him!" Kakashi shouted as Darui ignored the copy ninja.

"**Storm release: Laser Circus!**" he shouted. A halo of bright energy spread around his hands as several beams of energy flew to hit Bahamut in the back. The attack certainly caught the dragon's attention and he turned to try and find what insect dared strike him from behind. However, he could not see through the dense fog and pinpoint the location of the enemy.

Bahamut was not known for his patience and he decided to send an attack in the general direction of where the enemy was most likely hiding. The large ball of lightning was building in his mouth before he was once again hit from behind, this time by Hinata's angelic arrows. They exploded on impact and while still far from enough to hurt him they did indeed sting.

"**Insects!**" Bahamut shouted as he turned and shot his attack towards Hinata. However a blast of wind hit him dead on and knocked him back into the jagged embrace of the rocky mountains. He had completely forgotten about Vasuki and his younger brother had taken advantage. He also had to admit, that that attack had hurt.

"**Such cowardice! Fight me face to face!**" Bahamut shouted as he fly into the fog trying to find his brother. He would take out the most dangerous of the threats first and then take care of the nuisances.

However, he could not locate Vasuki in the dense fog. Vasuki was perfectly at home in the fog. As the wind dragon he could always identify where anyone was simply by listening to his element. Air was all around thus he could call on an attack or locate an enemy with ease. He did not need to see them.

Another blast of wing caught Bahamut flat footed, so to speak, and he was driven down into the ground. Kakashi decided to capitalize on this with an attack of his own.

"**Fire style: fire storm jutsu!**" He called out as he unleashed a multitude of small but powerful balls of fire that slammed into Bahamut's back. Deciding to contribute as well, Kurenai grabbed her Kiba blades. She created a large lightning ball and sent it towards the floundering Bahamut.

Bahamut was taken off guard. Alone the humans' attacks weren't that damaging but while distracted, Vasuki would take advantage and his blows certainly didn't tickle. He rose to the air and was once again about to unleash his fury when small, but annoying bolts of lightning began to fly in his face. They didn't injure him but served their purpose of blinding him from their true purpose.

Vasuki came barreling out of the fog and slammed into Bahamut's chest. The wind was knocked out of the giant dragon and Vasuki took advantage immediately. He shot a blast of wind that hit Bahamut in the gut and sent him towards Kakashi's group.

"All together!" Kakashi shouted.

"**Lighting style: black lightning jutsu!**" Darui shouted as he opened he shot out a large blast of a strange black lighting.

While surprised by the attack, Kakashi quickly attack as well.

"**Lighting style: thunder maelstrom!**" He called out as he sent out a large and concentrated burst of lighting chakra. It was his strongest lighting attack and took a good bit of his chakra.

Kurenai had no name for her attack but she gathered all of her remaining chakra and unleashed it through her blades and sent the combined attack at Bahamut.

The combined jutsu hit Bahamut in the head and they could see that they were actually causing damage to the behemoth, which was surprising to most of them.

Bahamut was the dragon lord of lightning, however, his control over it was only as strong as his concentration. He had thrown A around because the Raikage had acted rashly and Bahamut had all of the time in the world to control him. Not so with the enemies' combined attacks. They came hard and fast and without warning, thus he had no control over the attacks themselves.

Vasuki fly and slammed into Bahamut once again, this time taking him into the mountains and smashing his brother in the sharp rocks. Vasuki could sense something that he never thought he would.

Bahamut was beginning to tire.

It was almost inconceivable but it made sense. His brother was just as powerful, if not more so, than the nine tailed fox. However, he was not unbeatable. All of the attacks he took from Nibi, Hachibi, himself and Drac had taken a bit out of him. However, Tatsuo's sacrifice had taken much more from the great beat. Vasuki didn't know what Tatsuo had done and he didn't even notice it at first because Bahamut's rage had given him extra strength, but Tatsuo's last attack had drained Bahamut's energy significantly. Otherwise he would easily shrug off the blows coming at him.

As encouraging as this was, Vasuki could also feel his own energy faltering. He had expended much of it already and would soon have to return to his own realm to rest and recharge. He was well aware that as weakened as Bahamut was, he would run out of energy first and that would leave the ninja defenseless.

Vasuki was aware that he had been caught in thought for too long when Bahamut's hand wrapped around his neck and brought him face to face. A bolt of lightning flew from the sky and struck Vasuki in the back. Naruto had just been able to get out of the way. Vasuki cried out in pain from the blow. Bahamut showed no mercy and called down another attack.

However, in a move that was on the wrong side of insane, Kurenai jumped into the sky and thrust her blades up at the giant looming attack.

"Kurenai!" Kakashi shouted in surprise and heart wrenching fear. Darui grabbed him to hold him back.

Kurenai held back the enormous amount of energy through the use of her legendary blades. She wasn't sure what had been going through her mind but she knew that if they didn't do anything, Vasuki and Naruto would be in a lot of trouble. They were just beginning to finally cause some damage and make some headway against the nigh unbeatable dragon and she would do anything to ensure that her students and husband survived this battle.

It was torture. She was barely able to absorb the bolts of lightning that Kakashi would send to her to test her use with the Kiba swords. Trying to absorb lighting was difficult because of the nature of the element. Lighting was the most unpredictable of the elements as it was pure energy that wanted to be released in any way that it could, regardless of what the wielder wanted. It was even worse when you tried to hold it back. It was normally like trying to push against a stubborn , but slowly moving, object. However, trying to hold back Bahamut's attack was like trying to literally take a bull by the horns and stop it. It was impossible and Kurenai could feel the energy slipping past the influence of the blades and preparing to incinerate her. She quickly decided that instead of trying to stop the flow of energy, she would slightly turn it.

She used all of her remaining chakra to protect her vital organs, as she slightly turned the large stream of energy as much as she could while at the same time feeling the residual power damage her. Her attempt was successful and the attack passed just over Vasuki's shoulder and slammed into Bahamut's chest. Bahamut's mouth opened in utter agony as he was blown down by his own attack and disappeared in the fog. Vasuki quickly climbed up and Naruto caught his injured sensei.

"Kurenai!" Kakashi shouted again when her limp form was laid in front of him. She was not breathing.

"Stand back." Darui said softly as he ran his hand over her body. He winced and quickly pulled his hand back from the electrical charge that hit him.

"The residual energy makes it impossible to help her." Darui said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Out of my way!" Kakashi shouted as he pushed the cloud jonin aside and placed his hands on her chest. He grit his teeth from the pain of the residual lightning chakra flowing into his body. He bore it all and more and drew the energy into his own body. His hands began to blister and he could feel the power running rampant through his body but he was far from willing to stop. He finally was blown back by the last of the energy and quickly drew his white chakra fang. He sent the power to his sword and shot it into the sky, falling to his knees afterward.

"Kakashi-sensei are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"I'm fine, how is she?" Kakashi demanded quickly. They truned and saw Darui kneeling over her body and performing CPR. He coughed suddenly and began to breathe once again.

"She'll live but I don't know how extensive her injuries are." He said as he looked up from the unconscious woman.

"Thank Kami she's alive." Kakashi said quickly as he limped over to her and held her tenderly in his arms.

"**To redirect Bahamut's attack….I can't believe she was able to do that.**" Vasuki said softly before he flew aside and avoided a giant blast of energy from beneath him.

"**Hide quickly, let's go Naruto!**" Vasuki shouted as Naruto jumped onto his head again and Kakashi carried Kurenai as he and Darui hid in the crevasses of the mountain again.

Vasuki quickly went to hide in the fog once again. However, Bahamut seemed to no longer care for tact in away way. He unleashed wave after wave of destructive energy. He had dealt with a lot of offense ever since he came to this plan. The beacon was in the hands of a human, his brother attacked him, humans actually rose to fight against him. However, to be hit and badly hurt by his own attack was the straw that broke the camel's back as it were. Bahamut was in a blind rage and he was bent of destroying everything and everyone and he would not stop until he had wiped out every hidden village and large human city that he could find. He himself would put an end to the vile infestation that was humanity.

"**Die brother! Perish with the rest of them!**" He shouted as his jewel began to glow.

"**Everyone take cover!**" Vasuki shouted as he drew upon his remaining power.

Seeing what was coming Hinata, Omoi and Karui huddled together as Hinata took her power and formed a defensive shield around them. Kakashi and Darui had no such defensive jutsu and wondered what they could do. Kakashi stared at Kurenai and made a fast decision.

"**Naruto get off of me!**" Vasuki said as Naruto leapt to the ground. He didn't know what Vasuki had in mind but he had to trust his friend.

"**Die trash!**" he shouted as the sky began to glow. In a thunderous crack, what could only be considered a wave of lightning crashed form the sky and destroyed everything within a few meters' radius. Mountains were demolished, mighty and strong rock that had lasted for centuries were destroyed in an instant. All that was left was giant creator were the once feared Devil's Playground once stood.

Bahamut, despite his seemingly endless supply of energy was low on energy. He could barely stay in the air and was panting heavily. However, he was finally free of the rabble that had plagued him for so long.

"**And I still have just enough energy to destroy that village.**" He thought as he began to fly away. He stopped when he saw something moving in the dust below. He couldn't believe his eyes! Vasuki shook off the thick layer of dust that had settled on his heavily injured body and looked down at his charge. Naruto was unconscious but alive. Vasuki had used the rest of his remaining power to protect Naruto from the savage attack. It did not stop him from taking several bad wounds and he could no longer even raise his head.

'**Forgive me Naruto. I can do no more.**' He thought sadly as he fell limp and disappeared in a giant flash of light. He had been able to return himself back to his plane.

"**I will deal with you later my brother for your transgressions.**" Bahamut said softly as he continued to look around. To his shock, not only had Naruto survived but all of the other ninja had as well. Though they were all unconscious they were each still breathing. He couldn't understand how that was possible! He had felt a small spark of divine chakra from the girl who could use the angel's power but it shouldn't have been enough to save her of the others and he had no explanation at all for how the elder three humans had survived the attack.

'**It matters not. They'll be dead soon enough. But first, I'll take care of the boy.**' Bahamut thought as he used his powers to lift Naruto's body in the air. Before he ended the boy's existence, he was curious about something. He felt the massive amount of demonic chakra that was locked in the boy and he thought it was time he said hello to his old rival.

He focused his mind and forced his way into Naruto's mindscape.

**(Mindscape)**

Bahamut opened his eyes and found himself standing face to face with his most hated foe. Their battles had never had a decisive winner and normally ended when one or the other got bored with the destruction and left the battlefield. The amount of collateral damage the last time they fought nearly wiped out an entire country.

"**Well well well, how the mighty have fallen. To think I would find you trapped inside a worthless human. You really have fallen since the last time we'd met Kyuubi.**" Bahamut said with a sneer.

Kyuubi flew into a rage and slammed into his cage bars, stretching his claws out enough to slash across Bahamut's chest, whom had gotten too close to the cage. Bahamut looked down at the bleeding wounds and growled in anger.

"**And you're still the same high and mighty spouting lizard you've always been Bahamut. I see you've become even more pathetic than the last time we met.**" Kyuubi said with a sneer of accomplishment. He was very pleased he was able to land a blow on the pretentious dragon.

"**What are you talking about?**" Bahamut said, all amusement leaving his voice.

"**You're actions. If you truly were so much better than the humans then you would have never lowered yourself to their level by trying to kill them. You are just upset because they've continued to grow as a species and no longer are beneath you.**" Kyuubi said his sneer growing into a large grin of sharp teeth.

"**You don't know what you're talking about! I am going to kill them all for not knowing their place! They are nothing but worms compared to me and my kind!**" Bahamut roared in denial.

"**And when was the last time you saw a human try to kill any worm they saw just to prove a point. Those that are truly powerful need not display it to prove themselves. Their strength speaks for itself. You are doing this because of your oh so precious wounded pride!**" Kyuubi stated.

"**You a demon are lecturing me about pride? You've killed more humans than any other human! In their plane you would have done much much worse than what I plan to!**" Bahamut shouted in anger.

"**That's true but then again I am a demon, you are supposed to be one of Kami's chosen protectors and you are no different than me. What does that say about you?**" Kyuubi snickered.

Bahamut shot a blast of lightning at Kyuubi but the seal blocked the attack.

"**Attacking whenever you have nothing to say in response. You truly haven't changed. Don't waste your time though. You can no more get into this cage than I can get out.**" Kyuubi said as he actually lay down and continued to stay at his foe. If the cage were to open and he were to be free he would unleash all of his pent up fury, rage, and aggression against the dragon lord of lightning. In Bahamut's current state, he might actually kill the dragon.

"**Don't be so sure of that fox. You forget the extent of my divine chakra! I'm sure that I could break that seal if I so choose.**" Was Bahamut's response.

"**Oh? Then by all means free me and I will show you just how much I have fallen dragon! You're body is far from 100 percent and you've used a great deal of energy aimlessly because of your temper. If you dare open this cage I will ensure that you share the same fate as Tatsuo, but I will make it much much more painful.**" Kyuubi said the last of that statement in a low and arctic cold tone that left no illusions that he would do what he said. His mind was immediately on the move. If he was released then Naruto would die, that was a fact, however, he would do his best to keep the other ninja alive and with Bahamut in the state he was in, he might be able to avenge the boy's death. All he had to do was to keep attacking Bahamut's pride and strength and eventually the dragon would lose his temper and foolishly unlock his cage.

"**I see your mouth still outweighs your sense. Very well I am in need of a worthy opponent and I will finally end you one and for all.**" Bahamut said as he lifted a giant hand and aimed it directly towards the seal.

It glowed a bright golden color and the seal began to active. However, the seal was only made to deal with demonic chakra and the divine chakra being sent into it was causing the well documented reaction that took place when these two distinctive powers met one another. The seal began to glow and fluctuate brightly and Kyuubi noticed the gates that held him began to crack. Eventually the seal would break from the stress of the two clashing chakras and he would be free.

'**It looks like this is it kit. Don't worry though, I'll ensure that this overgrown reptile breathes his last and that your friends and family are safe from him. Honor demands nothing less.**' Kyuubi thought as he prepared himself for battle. However, the seal suddenly stopped shaking and slowly the cracks in the gates began to repair themselves.

"**On second thought I don't think I'll free you fox. I can't think of a more deserving fate then for you to stay here stuck and unable to do anything as the boy dies at my hands and the darkness of death slowly takes you over. Yes, that is a fitting end to you I think!**" Bahamut said with a cruel laugh as he lowered his hand.

"**Coward! Fight me!**" Kyuubi roared as he thrust his claws out one again, hoping to strike Bahamut down before the seal fully restored itself. Bahamut seemed to forget that by weakening the seal, Kyuubi had much more room to move around and the dragon's surprised expression showed that he had indeed seemed to over look this rather egregious oversight. His claws dug into Bahamut's chest and were an inch away from Bahamut's heart before the seal fully repaired itself and Kyuubi was unable to finish the deed.

Bahamut jumped back quickly with a snarl and looked down at his, almost, death wound. He smirked at Kyuubi's enraged expression.

"**Close but not close enough fox.**" He said as his mental body healed itself from the attack.

"Hey what are you doing in my mind?"

Bahamut and Kyuubi both turned to see a slightly confused Naruto before them. It seems his mind was aware that an intruder had invaded it and had sent the boy to expel the intruder.

"**Not that it's any concern of yours boy but I was simply catching up with an old friend. However, pleasantries are over and you are finished. You will die and you will take this other furry beat with you to the grave, thus eliminating two of the biggest stains to ever walk this earth.**" Bahamut said with a snort as he turned and began to fade away.

"The only piece of trash around here is you."

Bahamut stopped and turned to Naruto.

"**Care to repeat that?**" He asked in a deathly quiet tone that warned Naruto against doing any such thing.

"You heard me. You're a bigger stain on the world and even the fox behind me!" Naruto said.

"**I resent that brat.**" Kyuubi said, adding his two cents.

"**Boy, you are already on borrowed time. I can make you death quick or very very slow. My mercy has limits.**" Bahamut said as he turned fully towards Naruto.

"And I have seen the limits of your mercy. You raise your hand against those you call family is lower than anything I can imagine." Naruto said, unafraid. If he was to die then he would do it staring death in the face.

"**Very well boy. It seems that threats against you are pointless. I think I will torture your little mate and force you to listen to her screams of agony before I snuff out her life. Then I will do the same to all of those you care about until you are a broken shell**. **Then and only then will I grant you death.**" Bahamut stated.

"You'll do no such thing!" Naruto shouted as he fell into a battle stance.

"**Your ignorance never ceases to amaze me. You truly believe that simply because we are in your mind that you have any sort of control of chance of fighting me? You are delusional.**" He stated as he raised a hand and Naruto began to float towards him. Kyuubi snarled but could do nothing.

"**No you see just how weak you are boy. Your life is in my hands and there is no one who can save you.**" Bahamut stated with an infuriating smirk.

"That's what you think!"

Naruto, Kyuubi and Bahamut were shocked when a female voice reverberated through the mindscape and a single chain of what looked to be pure chakra wrapped around Bahamut's neck and slammed him into the ground. Naruto fell into the knee deep water and turned to see who could have done that. His eyes narrowed in confusion when he saw the woman that the chain was literally connected to.

The woman had a slender but feminine build, fair skin, and most notably bright red hair that reached her ankles, with strands that framed both sides of her face, the left of which was parted by a yellow clip and bright green eyes. She wore a high collared, sleeveless loose fitting dress. Had a black band around her left wrist and wore standard shinobi sandals.

"**Kushina.**" Kyuubi said lowly in surprise.

Naruto froze and forgot about everyone and everything else aside from the woman standing before him.

'Kushina? But that's my biological mother's name.' Naruto thought as his mind tried to process the woman's presence.

"Been awhile Kyuubi. Seems you've mellowed a bit since I last spoke to you." The fiery haired woman said, though her eyes never left the bright blue of her son's.

She calmly and a bit hesitantly walked up to her teenage son just close enough to touch him, though she refrained from doing such a thing just yet.

"Hello Naruto-kun." She said softly. Naruto was still numb to almost everything but he could see the hesitant look in her jade green eyes. She was afraid of his reaction.

"K-kaa-san?" He asked. Kushina's eyes lit up at the single word and grabbed the young man in a bear hug.

"Oh my baby boy! You've gotten so big and strong. You look just like Minato-kun as well!" the woman that was widely feared as the "Red legion of death" gleefully squealed.

"**Kushina, the boy needs air.**" Kyuubi said, getting uncomfortable and having had enough of the emotional scene.

"No he doesn't this is his mind!" She shouted back at the giant fox.

"**I forgot how loud you can be.**" Kyuubi said with a wince at the female. Kushina was fully prepared to retort back at the demon but Naruto stopped them.

"How are you here?" Naruto asked. He was still unsure of how to feel. He had met his father 3 years ago when the man was brought back by Orochimaru to attack the village. Their meeting hadn't gone very well.

"That's a long story my son." She said as tears began to fill her eyes. Naruto was not good with woman that cried. Whenever Hinata did, he would either beat up whatever caused it to happen or hold her until she calmed down. Seeing as he was unsure of the exact reason that Kushian was crying, he decided to go the second route and slowly walked up to his biological mother and wrapped his arms around her. He was surprised to find that he was actually an inch or two taller than she was.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you Naruto-kun. However, I couldn't think of a better person to raise you besides Tsunade-sama. Only my friend Mikoto would have been higher on my list." Kushina said as she once again bear hugged her son.

"Mikoto?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with that name. They finally released their embrace, much to Kyuubi's relief.

"Mikoto Uchiha, the mother of Sasuke and Itachi." She responded.

"Sasuke's mom?" Naruto shouted in surprise. Sasuke was still a sore point for him as that was the darkest time of his life. Just remembering Hinata's brief touch with death was enough to instill both white hot rage and ice cold fear in his veins.

"She wasn't like her son! She was a good woman. I told her not to marry that dog Fugaku. He poisoned Sasuke's mind." Kushina said, quickly defending her best friend.

"If you say so." Naruto said, unconvinced. He was about to ask a question before they were rudely reminded that they had forgotten a pretty significant item.

"**What is this? Release me now human!**" Bahamut roared as he finally picked himself up from the ground. He was trying, without success to break the chakra chain that Kushina had wrapped around him.

"Shut up! Can't you see that I'm having personal time with my son for the first time in his life?" Kushina shouted back as several more chains wrapped around Bahamut's body, including one that went around his mouth and clamped it shut. Bahamut's power began to grow as he tried to break the chains.

"**Don't bother. Those chains were powerful enough to bind even me and as much as you would argue the point, the fact is that our power is almost equal.**" Kyuubi said, deeply amused that another was on the receiving end of those accursed chakra chains.

"Now then where were we son?" Kushina asked with a bright smile, ignoring the giant dragon that she had bound with numerous chains of energy coming from her back.

"How are you doing that?" Naruto asked, astonished. They had thrown everything that had and more at the seemingly unstoppable Bahamut and his mother was holding him down like it was nothing.

"Family trait. There's so much you still don't understand about the Uzumaki my son. I would be happy to explain it to you." Kushina said.

"**Kushina, you do realize that you won't be able to hold him for that long correct?**" Kyuubi brought up. He was fine with watching Bahamut struggle but he was also aware that Kushina wouldn't be able to hold him back indefinitely.

"You still haven't changed your still the same pain in the butt you've always been, fuzzy." She said with a scowl.

"**I told you not to call me that tomato!**" Kyuubi fired back.

"Come say that to my face!" She shouted as flames seemed to fly out of her eyes and her aura made Naruto take a few steps back. Kushina reminded him of Tsunade and Anko when they were upset.

"Um I'd love to learn more about our family and speck with you but the fox is right how long can you hold him?" Naruto asked as he looked at Bahamut who continued to struggle.

"I can hold him like this all day without breaking a sweat!" Kushina said as she gave a large smile to Naruto, one that reminded him of his own. It was at that moment, where he saw so much of himself in her that Naruto felt for the first time a warm feeling of kinship with Kushina. That was until one of the chains suddenly snapped and the rest began to show signs of strain.

"Okay maybe I exaggerated a bit." Kushina said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head with an awkward smile on her face.

"Naruto-kun listen carefully, I can expel him from your mind but then you'll have to subdue him in the real world." She said as another chain broke.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Naruto asked. He had already given everything he had. His massive reserves were all but depleted, his friends and allies lay defeated and there were no other dragons that he could summon to help him. Adalinda couldn't fight without a large body of water and even if there was one present, and if she was even willing to fight with him, she would have no chance against an opponent that could use lightning. Tetsyua also would be of much use as she simply didn't have the strength to combat Bahamut. She'd only share the same fate as Drac and Vasuki or at worse Tatsuo.

"I'm going to help you! My personality as fuzzy here aren't the only things you've inherited form me you know." She said with a smile that was a bit forced as another of her chains broke.

"Wait what do you mean about me inheriting Kyuubi from you?" Naruto asked as the fox only growled in anger at the statement.

"That's for another time. Right now I've got to get him out of here while I still have the power to do so. Don't worry you won't be alone my son. Let's show him how strong we Uzumaki really are!" Kushina said with a smile as she sent her power into her chains and Bahamut began to fade away.

Naruto also noticed that everything was beginning to darken which symbolized that he too was about to enter the real world.

"Wait there's more I need to know!" Naruto said.

"We'll have time to talk after we kick this guy's butt son." She said as Naruto fully left his mindscape.

"**You better fight seriously Kushina. Bahamut's not as nice as I am.**" Kyuubi said.

"You're not nice." She replied back without looking at him.

**(Battlefield)**

Naruto awoke to find himself lying on the ground. He got up suddenly and grabbed his sword as he realized that Bahamut was also beginning to regain consciousness.

'I need all the chakra I can get but I need to do this.' Naruto thought.

"**Kage bushin**" He said as he created just enough clones to grab his teammates and the cloud ninja and run swiftly away from the soon to be battle field. They got away just as Bahamut's eyes opened and settled on Naruto.

'Okay now what?' Naruto thought as Bahamut growled at the memory of what happened in Naruto's mind.

'Trust me son, I've got a plan! Watch out!' Kushina replied back. Naruto was stunned almost a second too long as Bahamut attacked him. There were no more words or threats or promises, the dragon was going to kill him and be down with it.

Naruto leapt back and avoided a clawed strike from Bahamut. The giant dragon's long tail whipped around to smash the much smaller opponent. Naruto brought his sword up and was sent flying back from the force of the blow. Naruto coughed up blood and couldn't move his body. He was still far too injured from everything that had happened.

'I could use that help now.' Naruto thought as Bahamut's hand came down to finish him. Kushina responded and a chain made of pure chakra came from his back and wrapped around the limb keeping it away from Naruto.

"**Accursed chains! They won't save you this time!**" He growled as he tried to pull his arm back. Several more of the special weapons came from Naruto's back and just like his mother had done, he was able to bind Bahamut. However, Naruto was not as experienced as his mother and Bahamut was able to break a few. Bahamut opened his mouth and shot a small blast of lightning at Naruto.

The chains released the dragon and came in front of Naruto, weaving together to form a powerful barrier that blocked the attack. However, Bahamut was released as a result and he attempted to capitalize and attacked Naruto. Curiously, he continued to attempt to crush him under foot or claw.

'**He's run low on energy brat. Now is the only chance you will get!**' Kyuubi supplied to him. Kushina was busy focusing on controlling the chains and using them to bat away Bahamut's blows.

'And just what do you expect me to do about it?' Naruto shouted back as he avoided another blow. He had to figure something out because he was pretty sure his mother couldn't keep up what she was doing but he was at a loss. His chakra reserves were very low, he couldn't use the Kyuubi's power and his mother was already doing everything she could. The answer came when Naruto noticed that every time one of the chains made contact with Bahamut, he felt a small pulse of energy through his body. He couldn't explain it until he realized that it was his newly recreated sword. He was faint but a glow appeared with every contact with the dragon.

'That's it! Mom we need to grab him again!' Naruto thought.

'Easier said than done son. I'm doing everything to keep him from killing you.' Kushina replied back. However she was able to have one chain wrap around Bahamut's leg and sweep his feet from under him. He went down and the chain began to glow a golden color. Naruto looked to his sword and saw that it was doing its part by siphoning energy from Bahamut and using the power to restore Naruto's own. However, Bahamut was becoming aware of this and tried to break the chain. Kushina acted quickly and using what little chakra she had left sealed within her son she called upon as many chains as she could to hold the dragon down. Bahamut struggled mightily under the net that held him and Naruto quickly jumped onto his chest and slammed his sword into the steel like scales.

It didn't penetrate but then Naruto hadn't intended it to. Direct contact seemed to work best and he smiled as the chains began to glow with power and Bahamut gave a weak growl of pain as his chakra was drained by the boy and taken from him. He was enraged at the shame but couldn't do much at the moment. The chains by themselves were strong enough to hold Kyuubi and with him growing weaker by the minute it wouldn't be long before he could no longer remain on the human's plane of existence. He focused as much as his position would allow and used his rage to fuel his strength.

'Naruto get off of him now!' Kushina's warning came. Naruto leapt off of the dragon just as he used a lightning attack to shatter the chains. He was heavily winded and didn't move immediately. He had used a majority of his power already and was finally reaching his limit. He needed to return to his realm to recharge but he knew that should he return, the sword and the boy would never allow him to return. It had only happened this time because of the boy's weakened state and the fact that the sword was damaged.

'Thanks for the warning but I hope you have something else up your sleeve or we're still in deep trouble.' Naruto said to his mother. The power he had been able to take from Bahamut was enough so that he no longer felt like he would fall over form chakra exhaustion, however, he still didn't believe it enough to completely stop the beast.

'I may have something we can use but you'll have to make physical contact with him.' Kushina said as she thought long and hard about the dangers of what she was about to suggest.

'What did you have in mind?' Naruto thought as Bahamut slowly got to his feet. Naruto found a few remaining boulders from the once vast mountain range and quickly hid behind them, to give him time to plan.

'Our clan was known for our sealing arts and I was one of the best. I may have a seal that can finish this but it's very risky.' She replied back to him.

'Not like I have a lot of options.' Naruto said as he watched Bahamut scan the area for his location.

'Then listen closely.' She replied.

Bahamut looked around for the brat but couldn't locate him right away. Growling in anger he finally spotted the boy. He had walked from behind a group of large rocks that still littered the area. The boy stood tall and he began to draw upon the power that he had no right to wield. Bahamut watched as the divine chakra of the dragons began to form around his body and he glowed with power.

Bahamut opened his mouth and shot a ball of lightning at the boy. Naruto with a roar slashed the ball with his sword and cleaved through the attack. He continued on and leapt at the giant. Bahamut gathered his energy and shot a beam of energy at the charged boy. Kushina's chakra chains came from his back and powered by the divine chakra coursing through his system wove a protective shield around Naruto as he continued on to his target.

Bahamut decided that if the boy was going all out then there was no need to hold back. He summoned all of his remaining strength and increased the power behind his attack. The chakra chain shield protecting Naruto began to deteriorate from the added power and Naruto could feel his momentum beginning to falter. It wasn't long before the attack was too much and Kushina's shield broke away. Naruto vanished in the large attack and a giant explosion came from the beam of energy striking the ground.

'**Finally the boy has fallen.**' Bahamut thought as he fell to his hands and knees in exhaustion. He was far too tired to go and destroy the village but he was satisfied with finally being able to erase the insult that dared used their power.

"You're anger really does blind you." Bahamut went completely still as he turned his head and saw Naruto on his back. The boy was just finishing up drawing a strange seal out of his own blood on Bahamut's back. Naruto slammed his hand on the seal as it activated.

"**How?**" was Bahamut's only reply as he felt the seal perform its function. He felt what little power he had left swiftly leave his body and he hold on the human's realm begin to slip.

"You fought a shadow clone. I created it while behind that boulder and waited for you to be distracted. It was easy to sneak up behind you when your focus was zeroed in on my clone. Had you kept a cool head you might have questioned why I would charge head on at you knowing the difference in our strength. However, in your mind there's no way a worm could ever out smart you is there?" Naruto said as Bahamut fell to the ground. He couldn't fight against the seal and he felt his power draining away to nothing.

"**Finish it boy.**" Bahamut growled as he could no longer move. The seal continued to drain his power, and he was defenseless.

"Fine. You deserve this for what you did for to Drac, Vasuki and especially Tatsuo. To do that to your own family because of your own pride and arrogance is unforgivable." Naruto said as he jumped onto the downed dragon's back. Bahamut prepared himself for the final blow before he felt a hand on his back again suddenly the power drain began to stop until he no longer felt his strength being taken from him. He was still incredibly weak but no longer felt as if he would waste away. He saw Naruto jump off of his back and begin to limp away.

"**What did you do?**" Bahamut muttered in wonder.

"That seal my mother taught me doesn't just force your chakra out of your system. It stores it all in the seal itself. It also has a secondary function to sap any chakra that you regain that is above your current level. If anyone other than the seal's creator tampers with it then the failsafe will activate and the seal will unleash the stored chakra directly into your system. Such a large influx of chakra would undoubtedly overload you chakra network and you would literally explode." Naruto said without turning around.

"**W-what?**" Bahamut asked in shock.

"Put simply you'll never become stronger than you are now. And with your current chakra levels Drac could probably beat you." Naruto said as he turned and he glared at Bahamut with ice cold blue eyes.

"**I still have the strength to kill you boy!**" He shouted as he began to rise. He was slammed into the ground and one again found himself bound by Kushina's chakra chains.

"You don't have the strength to do anything anymore. You're going to go away beaten by a lowly human and his comrades and you won't be coming back." Naruto said as his chains began to glow with divine chakra and Bahamut felt his grip on the human's realm being forcibly broken.

"**Why not kill me?**" Bahamut growled as he began to glow.

"Death is to kind a fate for you. Live with the knowledge that you were beaten by those you consider lower than dirt. Live with the knowledge that your power will always be beyond your grasp. Or you can force the seal open and kill yourself, I don't really care either way." Naruto said as Bahamut fully disappeared and was returned to the dragon's realm.

'**You should have killed him brat.**' Kyuubi said.

'Probably, but what's done is done.' Naruto said as the chains disappeared in his back.

'I'm proud of you son. Way to show him what we Uzumaki can do!' Kushina said happily.

"Yes that was impressive. I thought I would have to step in."

Naruto turned slowly and laid eyes on the black cloak wearing man that he hadn't seen for three years.

'Who is that?' Kushina asked confused at the presence of the black wearing man.

"Who am I, Kushina-san? Well that is a secret!" The man said with a smile. Kushina was about to respond when she realized that everything was beginning to go dark.

Naruto passed out before he could hear what his mother was going to say.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 13! Sorry, sorry I know it's been awhile but work takes up a lot of my time. I will try to do better though.**

**Bahamut has been defeated and the mysterious man has returned. What does he want now? What will occur between the leaf and cloud villages in the aftermath of this battle? What is coming next for our heroes?**

**That is a secret! **

**Till next item, Kyuubi123 out!**


	14. Chapter 14

**LND 14**

**(Kumo)**

Naruto woke up slowly and found himself lying in a bed at the Kumo hospital.

'Seems I spend more time in a hospital than I do at home.' He thought dryly as his attention fell on the room's other occupant. He was glad, but not surprised, to see Hinata in a chair beside his bed, her hand clasped over his. Her head was down and she was obviously asleep. Judging by her clean attire he'd been out long enough for them to get back to the village and for her to get a fresh set of cloths.

What shocked Naruto was that the cloths HInata was wearing were identical to that of a cloud ninja kunoichi! He didn't know what to think and it seemed that he would get answers as his movement had awoken Hinata.

"Naruto-kun." She said in a sad, yet resigned tone.

"Hinata-chan what..what's going on? Why are you wearing that?" Naruto asked though the most likely answer formed a ball of ice in his gut.

"The Raikage was quite upset with how things turned out and he blamed Konoha for it. He was threatening war immediately unless he was placated. I promised to become a Kumo shinobi to avoid war. I'm sorry Naruto-kun." She said with her head down.

To say that Naruto was angry would be a gross understatement. He was well and truly livid and his blood red eyes revealed this.

"**I'm going to kill him!**" Naruto roared as he leapt from the bed. His previous injuries forgotten and the pain ignored as demonic power rushed through his veins. Naruto stormed towards the door on the warpath before he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. He was coherent enough not to lash out in anger but he was quickly losing that valuable discretion.

"Naruto-kun wait!" Hinata quickly cried.

"**Let me go Hinata!**" He growled as he turned back to look at her. He was confused to see that she was wearing her normal ninja attire.

"**Hinata-chan what's going on?**" He asked as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

"I knew that things had been a bit tense lately so I wanted to do something to lighten the mood." She said as she ducked her head and for the first time in years, began to press her index fingers together nervously.

"So none of that was true? You, you pulled a prank on me?" Naruto asked finally understanding what had taken place.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun." Hinata said, believing Naruto to be quite upset and the serious look on his face and the way he turned from her certainly seemed to validate her initial assumption.

Thus, she was quite surprised to find herself in his arms and being swung around with his joyful laugh echoing throughout the room. She was a bit surprised to see tears in his eyes.

"I can't believe it! I actually got pranked!" Naruto laughed so hard that Hinata began to laugh with him. She was still a bit confused by the suddenly change in emotion.

"You're not mad at me?" She asked when he finally put her down.

"How could I be mad at Kami's most perfect gift? I've pranked probably every person in Konoha Hinata-chan. For you to be able to turn the tables on me, the pranking king, shows that I have truly been blessed with the perfect woman." He said with his signature wide smile.

He then proceeded to kiss her deeply, always enjoying any and all physical contact between the two of them. Hinata's pleased moan spurred him on. Unfortunately, it was at this moment that his injures that had been ignored earlier began to make themselves known once again and Naruto winced as Hinata's arms wrapped around his still tender ribs.

"Gomen, Naruto-kun." She said with a soft smile as she led him back to lie in bed. She focused her power to her hands and began to gently run them along his skin, having removed his shirt beforehand.

Naruto didn't respond as he let his eyes fall closed to enjoy the gentle ministrations of Hinata's hands on his skin. He was going to take this time to rest because he had a feeling that things were going to become hectic once again. Hinata's prank may have lifted his spirits but it also brought forth the very real issue of where the treaty between the Leaf and Cloud villages would go from here. Being responsible for the beast that had almost destroyed their village certainly wouldn't have endeared Naruto to the populace and he feared that the Raikage would demand reparations.

'**He better not if he knows what's good for him!**'

Naruto opened his eyes at the sound of Kushina's voice. He had almost forgotten that his biological mother was somehow present in his mindscape with the Kyuubi. In the heat of battle he had been more concerned about how she could help him and surviving more so then how she was there but now seemed to be a perfect time to find out what was going on. With Hinata's still concerning herself with healing his body, Naruto closed his eyes again and concentrated on his mental link with the seal.

**(Mindscape)**

"**I've got to commend you kit. I thought for sure that you were done for. You continue to impress.**" Kyuubi stated as Naruto appeared in front of his cage.

"If it wouldn't have killed me and probably leveled a one hundred mile radius I would have let you have him." Naruto responded with a smirk. Kyuubi himself chuckled at the statement.

"Wow you're a lot friendlier with my son then you ever were with me fuzzy." Kushina said as she appeared before them.

"**I told you not to call me that!**" Kyuubi snarled as he slapped the cage with his tails. A strange groaning sound rang throughout the tunnel, making them all pause in surprise.

"What was that?" Naruto wondered. That sound couldn't have been good.

"**Hmm it seems the seal holding me is growing ever weaker.**" Kyuubi noted as he once again hit the cage and recreated the sound.

"Stop doing that Kyuubi." Kushina said seriously as she placed her hand on the cage and closed her eyes. Surprising Kyuubi stepped back and allowed her to inspect the seal.

"He's right the seal is weakening at rapid rate." Kushina said after a moment.

"How?" Naruto asked more than a little alarmed. He knew that going on his grief and rage filled assault on Danzo's headquarters years ago had damaged the seal but Jiraiya had been able to correct it, somewhat.

"**That overgrown excuse of a reptile.**" Kyuubi stated as he neared the bars and lay down again.

"I see. Before I interfered Bahamut was attempting to break the seal by forcing his divine chakra into it. It clashed with the stored demonic chakra and the seal, not being used to the violent clash in opposing powers, began to break.

"**He would have succeeded had he not changed his mind at the last moment. Saved his life as well.**" Kyuubi muttered the last part, knowing that in Bahamut's wounded state he would have finally rid the earth of him.

"Regardless you'll need to do something very soon. The seal is deteriorating at a significant rate." Kushina said.

"Don't you have some kind of special seal that could fix it?" Naruto asked the red haired woman.

"Things aren't that simple Naruto-kun. At best it would be a patch job. I think it's time that you fully learn to control fuzzy's chakra." Kushina said after giving it some thought.

"**You really think the kit's ready for that?**" Kyuubi questioned, ignoring her nickname for him.

"Not much of a choice right now. When you get back to Konoha talk to Jiraiya about giving you the key to the seal Naruto-kun." Kushina said.

"What do I have to do to fully control Kyuubi's power?" Naruto asked.

"**Simple kit. You have to defeat me in a fight.**" Kyuubi stated with a grin that revealed all of his teeth.

**(Kumo Hospital)**

Kurenai slowly, and painfully, began to awaken. The last thing she could remember involved her redirecting Bahamut's attack with a move that was on the wrong side of crazy.

'And to think that I get on Naruto for acting too impulsively. I guess he's rubbed off on me.' She thought as she looked around her room. It was dark meaning she had woken up in the middle of the night and her injured body was screaming at her to return to sleep. The fact that she was still alive and in a hospital meant that they had won but she was a bit concerned when she didn't see Kakashi sitting beside her.

"You should go back to sleep."

Kurenai turned to her side, with a grunt of discomfort, and saw that her husband was indeed in the room with her. He was in a bed beside her closer to the door. She couldn't see any outward signs of damage.

"Chakra exhaustion." Kakashi supplied, knowing where her line of thought was taking her. Kurenai narrowed her eyes at the way he was acting. Kakashi normally acted aloof to most except those close to him. That he was brushing off his condition so quickly meant that there was more to it than that.

"Judging by the way I feel and the night sky I can safely say that it's been at least a day or two. You should be fine now. Come here." Kurenai stated with a small smile. Kakashi began to sweat under her sweet tone and doubly so at the smile on her face. As innocent as it may have sounded, she was testing him. If he failed he would hear about it, for a long time.

"I'm actually quite comfortable here and besides you need to rest. Go back to bed dear." He said with a forced smile.

"I'm wide awake and would like to hold my husband." Kurenai countered. They stared at one another for a moment before Kakashi sighed and decided to own up to what he'd done.

"I can't move any better than you at the moment." Kakashi said.

"Why?" Kurenai asked, though the frown on her face as well as the hard look she was giving him showed that she had a very good idea.

"I used the Mangekyou sharingan." He said, conceding defeat. He braced himself for the onslaught he knew was coming. He wasn't disappointed.

"You what? Kakashi in the condition you were in using the Mangekyou could have killed you!" Kurenai shouted, cursing her injured body for stopping her from knocking him on the side of his head.

"And leaping off a cliff to redirect a blast of lightning strong enough to turn mountains into dust is any less dangerous?" Kakashi shot back. His tone didn't raise but it did turn cold.

Kurenai's anger swiftly evaporated at this. She could see the anger in his eye as well as the terror he must have felt when she performed her stunt. She really hadn't been thinking at the time, she simply wanted to save her students.

"You're right. Sorry for that, I guess Naruto's recklessness is rubbing off on me." She said in apology.

"It's okay, just please think before you do that again. My heart nearly leapt out of my throat seeing you perform such a stunt. It didn't help when you weren't breathing afterwards." He added as he turned to look out the window.

Her near death experience wasn't the first she had been in and in their profession it wouldn't be the last but knowing that didn't help ease Kakashi's fears any. He could still remember how he actually gained the Mangekyou.

They had been on a mission together. Ever since team eight all became chunin, Kurenai and he had formed their own two man team. The former captain of the anbu black ops along with the genjutsu mistress of Konoha were a deadly duo who had yet to fail a mission given to them by Tsunade. With the war with the sound and sand villages, along with Orochimaru's final assault, the village was hard pressed to keep up appearances by accepting and completing any mission given.

This resulted in most elite ninja having to take on more and more A and S ranked missions. With two of their best forming a single unit, the only missions that Kakashi and Kurenai were allowed to take were S ranked. Kurenai, at first, was taken aback by the physical, mental, and emotional stress that the missions caused. Kakashi was used to such missions but he was used to handling them alone. He was not used to dealing with them with a teammate, especially his wife. At first he tried to handle the high levels of stress like he always had, by shutting down for a time and trying to deal with it alone. Kurenai was not about to have that though. It was the toughest test of their relationship, but they made it through. Together they were able to help one another deal with emotionally and mental strain of the missions. In fact it was during them that he finally found the guts to propose to her.

Kakashi would take the lead more times than not as he had the most experience but Kurenai was a fast learner and began to take the initiative in leading the missions. Even then she differed to Kakashi in terms of trusting his judgment at critical times. He had never failed to bring them through okay.

Except once.

Their intel had been bad and they had walked into a trap. On the run from enemy ninja their objective, a small scroll detailing possible attacks on their village from the Hidden Rock village, safe in hand they ran for their lives attempting to cross the border. The mission was one such that in the event of their capture or death, Konoha would declare them rouges and they and their families names would be disgraced.

(**Flashback)**

Kakashi's lungs felt like they were on fire, as did his left side. A deep wound bleed profusely caused by a lucky hit from one of their pursuers. He looked over to his girlfriend, and even with his sharingan he had a hard time making her out in the sheets of heavy rain that continued to pound them. He knew that they were still being pursued and to falter would mean capture or death. He refused to allow either to happen. He was not afraid to die, but he refused to allow Kurenai, the woman who taught him to love again perish with him.

Kakashi dodged quickly and the tree behind him shattered as a powerful earth jutsu hit it. They had to keep moving. They were only a few miles from the safe zone.

'Just a little bit further. We can make it.' He thought hoping that their good fortune held.

Suddenly a giant wall of earth erupted from the ground in front of them, cutting them off. Kakashi silently cursed and called Kurenai to him. They met, back to back on the forest floor and prepared themselves. To try and climb the giant wall would leave them sitting ducks for whatever crack shots their enemy had among them.

"You sure know how to treat a girl Kakashi." Kurenai said trying to lighten the mood. She drew her Kiba blades and waited. Their enemies had been right on their tails and should have overtaken them immediately. The fact that they had yet to be attacked meant that they were being surrounded

"I aim to please." Kakashi responded as his sharingan eye revealed the true number of their attackers.

'There are too many. We can't come close to dealing with them all.' Kakashi thought to himself as a cold feeling ran down his spine. He had never been afraid to die. In fact during the earlier years of him being an anbu captain, he welcomed death. He had no family, few friends and truly nothing on the earth to keep him going. He only fought on because he remembered Obito and how he fought to the end. Kakashi would never take his own life so he accepted the most challenging and dangerous missions. He wouldn't give up and die but he would welcome it if it came for him.

But he had survived. Kakashi, through all odds, was able to find a way to make it out of every mission successfully. He was looked at with awe and respect. Kakashi cared for neither. He was content simply going through the motions of living. He ate, worked, and slept. That was all. He didn't allow himself to make attachments to anyone or anything, fearing that he would lose them. But then he met Kurenai.

"Here they come!" Kurenai shouted as two rock ninja came from the heavy rain. Kurenai leapt over one and pierced the second with her blade through the chest. As he convulsed and died the first attacker found himself staring at his own death courtesy of Kakashi's white chakra blade.

Kakashi turned from the down opponent to face the three that were attempting to sneak up on him from behind. In such situations, taijutsu was the style of choice. They couldn't risk using too much chakra so ninjutsu was out and only Kurenai had a mastery of genjutsu so powerful that she could perform them with as little chakra as possible and still receive the desired results.

This was shown when the ones attacking Kakashi suddenly turned on one another in a shout of rage as they fell under Kurenai's talents. Kakashi dispatched them swiftly and turned to stand back to back with his girlfriend. The first few were simply to test them, the remaining force, and his eye showed him that it was large, would come more carefully.

'We've got to do something or we're lost.' Kakashi thought as he and Kurenai continued to battle the steady stream of opponents coming at them. Both moved in perfect harmony as they continued to pile the bodies of enemy ninja around them.

"Kakashi take the scroll and leave!" Kurenai whispered once they were back to back in a lull in the battle. After seeing so many of their comrades killed the rest were more cautious to attack the two elite ninja.

"Nice joke, tell me another." Kakashi replied a bit short of breath.

"Don't argue. You know full well that of the two of us you're faster and with you previous anbu training, you're the most likely to make it back to the village." She fired back.

"I'm also hurt and low on chakra it makes more sense for me to stay and you to leave. Besides, I'm better known, they'll jump at the chance to take out the copy ninja." Kakashi said just as shortly.

"Now isn't the time to argue! They'll come as soon as they've regrouped and we won't survive another assault." She shouted.

"Agreed so you need to go now!" Kakashi shouted as he turned to glare at her. He saw her heated gaze turn wide with fright and the next thing he knew he was being pushed to the ground and felt her drop onto him. He rolled quickly and had her in his arms. He felt a warm feeling seeping into his vest. Kurenai had taken a kunai to the gut.

'How stupid am I?' Kakashi thought. How could he have lost his cool and taken his eyes off of the enemy. He could sense them moving in and knew that they had little time.

'This is my fault. Just like Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei. You've all died because I'm never strong enough. You're gone because of me!' He thought bitterly as the rock nin attacked all together.

**(End flashback)**

Kakashi shook his head to dispel the memory. It was funny how things worked out. Kakashi had no doubt that he'd be unable to fight and protect Kurenai at the same time. He well and truly believed that he had been the cause of his girlfriend's death. That, along with him still believing that it was his own actions that caused the deaths of Obito and Rin, seemed to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan and with the initial boost of chakra the unlocked dojutsu provided him with, he was able to rise despite his injuries and found a very useful jutsu that allowed him to send objects to another time and space. He used it on a group of rock nin and needless to say, the remainder kept their distance and attempted to bring them down with long range techniques. Kakashi, while holding onto the fading Kurenai, used his renewed chakra system to race then back to Konoha as fast as possible.

He had collapsed as soon as he reached the gates and Shizune had to call for aid from Tsunade herself to keep him from succumbing to severe chakra exhaustion. He had cared nothing for himself, he only wanted to be sure that Kurenai would live.

"What are you thinking about?" Kurenai asked as she noticed how quite he had been.

"The last time we were both in this position." He replied as he turned his attention back to her.

"Oh I remember alright. Only you would have the guts to propose when both of us were in hospital beds." She said, referring to the fact that after that fateful mission, Kakashi hadn't wasted anytime in requesting her hand in marriage. In fact, as soon as she woke up from her treatment he had asked her. At the time she thought she was still dreaming.

"Well at least you can't say that it wasn't original." Kakashi replied with his usual eye smile. Kurenai seemed to find the strength to hurl a pillow into his face.

"Shut up and go to sleep Kakashi-kun. You're still not off the hook and you'll need your strength to make this up to me." She said with a smile. His strange and sometimes goofy antics always could lift her spirits.

"I save you again and you're still giving me orders." He grumbled as he lay down to rest.

"You need someone who can keep you in line." She said sweetly as she did the same.

Theirs was a strange relationship, but it worked for them.

**(Hospital rooftop)**

Shino smiled to himself as his insects let him know that his comrades were all alive and well. He sighed as he felt an unfamiliar jolt of jealousy and longing. Both Naruto and Kurenai-sensei had their loved ones close enough to touch. Meanwhile, he could only focus on the signals being given to him from his insects that told him how Haku was doing back in the hidden Mist. He missed her terribly and wanted her beside him.

"May I join you?"

Shino had felt her approach long before she spoke. He turned to observe the woman. Samui was a truly beautiful woman. Unlike most of the citizens of the cloud village, she had pale skin that did nothing to detract from her beauty. Shino noticed all of this, but it was from a more analytical standpoint.

"I don't mind." Shino responded. He could use some company. He was for the first time he could remember feeling truly lonely and wanted some company from another human.

Shino and Samui stood side by side and simply observed the beautiful night bathed in moonlight. Shino was a bit surprised to find another person that he could simply be in the company of and not have a single word uttered. Haku was the other and the thought of her sent another pang of loneliness running through him.

"We are grateful to you and your comrades for aiding us against a dangerous foe." She said suddenly. She hadn't turned to look at him.

"Helping you was only logical. Standing together is always better than standing divided. Despite the problems our villages had in the past, it is time to places such prejudices and mistrust behind us. There are far more dangerous threats growing in power every day." Shino said as he thought about the Akatsuki.

"I agree. The thought of a group comprised of S-rank ninja trying to capture and kill Yugito-sensei and Killer bee-sensei is truly frightening. I wonder if I will have the strength to protect either of them when the time comes that they make a move against Kumo." Samui said.

"You care for them very much." Shino said as he looked at her out the corner of his eye.

"They are powerful and very important to our village. They are the sword and shield of the Hidden Cloud." She stated coolly.

"Is that all that they mean to you? Are they simply weapons to be looked upon as useful until they are dull and blunted and must be discarded?" Shino said, it was easy to hear the bitter tone in his words, despite how calmly they were spoken.

Samui did not respond for a long moment. She didn't seem offended by Shino's tone nor did she seem embarrassed by what she had said. However, Shino was able to see that she had tensed, ever so slightly at what he had said. She seemed conflicted.

"Killer Bee-sensei always has always taken care of me and my team. He cares for us greatly and wants us to be the best we can be. Not only as ninja but also as humans. I could not ask for a better teacher. Yugito-sensei is a strong kunoichi and looked upon highly by both civilians and shinobi alike." Samui said lowly.

"I apologize for my words. Naruto is my comrade and one of my best friends. He has lived a hard life where he was looked upon simply as the beast that he contains. He hates that any demon container is viewed as a weapon to be used and not a person with feelings and emotions." Shino said as he felt the tension rising between them fade slowly away.

"There is something special about him." Samui stated.

"That there is." Shino agreed.

They fell silent once again and enjoyed the company of one another. It was not long before Shino took his leave. He felt Samui's eyes follow him as he walked down the stairs leading from the roof back to the ground level. He pretended he didn't hear the whisper from her lips.

"There is something special about you as well Aburame-san."

**(Raikage's office)**

The konoha ninja were all standing in front of A's desk along with team Killer Bee. Killer Bee and Yugito were still in the hospital from the beating that they had taken from Bahamut. A looked like he should have been there as well. He was covered in medical wrappings and looked to still be in a good deal of pain.

"I must say that the power you wield is truly frightening Uzumaki-san." A stated after a moment of reflection.

Naruto was still a bit distracted from what his mother and Kyuubi had told him. He had no idea what made them think that he could defeat Kyuubi one on one in combat. He was the mightiest of all the demons and at the very least, was just as powerful as Bahamut. The fact that he knew all of Naruto's abilities, weaknesses, fears, and most intimate secrets didn't help. Last but not least, Kyuubi would not be stupid enough to underestimate the young man as Bahamut had done. The lightning lord refused to believe that a human could best him and that was his downfall. Kyuubi had no such thoughts about Naruto.

"There are many in the village that are not so eager to see this treaty take place. As I'm sure you're aware, there is a lot of bad blood between our villages." A continued.

"You mean like your village kidnapping Hinata-chan when she was a child under the guise of peace to steal the Byakugan." Naruto said hotly. He wasn't one to mince words and he assuredly wouldn't do such with the man that had, in a sense, caused the death of Tatsuo and the near death of Drac.

Omoi grabbed Karui's shoulder when she was about to defend her Kage. He shook his head at her to let her know to let it go. What Naruto said was correct, though it could have been worded more diplomatically. A's face darkened a bit but he began to laugh.

"I like the balls on you kid. Never back down from anyone, I respect that. However, a vast number on our council are opposing this strongly. I can overrule them in this case with a majority vote but things are tense." A said as he let the comment linger in the air.

"What about our so called agreement?" Naruto seethed as he believed the Raikage was trying to weasel his way out of the stipulations of the tournament.

"What about them? Karui lost, Samui won, Yugito lost and Bee had you dead to rights if I told him to finish you off. That's a draw boy and the agreement was that you had to win the tournament not force a draw." A said with a glare.

Everyone, even Naruto, was surprised with a chain made of chakra shot from Naruto's back and wrapped around A's head and slammed it in the desk.

'Kaa-san!' Naruto mentally shouted.

'**He was getting on my nerves.**' Kushina said. Kyuubi laughed.

"Naruto, what's gotten into you?" Kakashi shouted as Omoi, Karui and Samui fell into battle positions. This in turn made the konoha ninja prepare themselves for battle. A very deadly silence fell over the room as everyone was afraid to even breathe else they be unprepared for what was to come.

"This technique is familiar to me." A said as he stood slowly and grabbed the chain.

"It's an ability I got from my biological mother." Naruto said softly. Only he and A dared move and speak. Everyone else was waiting to see what would happen

"You're biological mother?" A asked confused. He was aware of the mother son relationship that Naruto and Tsunade had but he was unaware that the boy knew his biological mother.

"Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto said.

"You're that woman's son?" A asked as he began to sweat.

'What's he so jumpy about?' Naruto thought to himself.

'**The Cloud village at one time attempted to kidnap me for my special chakra and my ability to use my chakra chains. It's only because Minato-kun came after me that I was saved from the same fate as Hinata.**' Kushina said softly, both remembering the painful memory as well as aware of how Naruto might respond to such a thought. He might try to destroy the village.

"So not only does your village try to kidnap my girlfriend but you also tried to do the same in the past with my mother?" Naruto shouted in anger as his eyes turned blood red. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra coming through the seal much quicker and with more force than normal and he was soon on his knees gasping in pain as the cloak fell over his boy and tails began to grow.

'Kyuubi shut it off!' Naruto shouted to his tenant.

'**Can't, not under my control.**' The fox responded simply. Besides he cared nothing for the cloud village and would love to see some blood flow.

'**Keep those dark thoughts to yourself fuzzy.**' Kushina snarled as she looked helplessly at the seal. There really was not much she could do. Interfering now would only shorten the time she had left with Naruto and there was still so much more to reveal to him.

Luckily, Hinata was able to handle it. She swiftly activated her angelic powers and laid her hands on Naruto's face. She concentrated and slowly was able to force the demonic chakra back into the seal. Naruto's sword then sprang to life and helped the young woman accomplish her goal. Naruto was left weak and had to lean on Hinata for support.

A, and the rest of the Kumo shinobi including the hidden cloud anbu, were still taken aback from the powerful demonic chakra that had just hit them.

"Dragons, the Kyuubi and the same special chakra that made Kushina Uzumaki so deadly. I'd rather have this power with me than against me. I will sign the treaty between our two villages." The Raikage said as he signed the scroll from Konoha. Instead of handing it to Kakashi, he gave it to Samui. All the tension left the room.

"Samui will travel back with you to Konoha as my emissary." A stated. Samui went to stand beside Shino. Omoi looked upset after the announcement but a quick glare from Naruto, with a bit of killing intent thrown in, quickly took his eyes off of Hinata.

"Thank you, Raikage-sama. I'm sure Hokage-sama will be very pleased to hear this news." Kakashi said as the tension in the room finally lifted.

"How are Bee and Yugito?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Why do you care?" A asked in return.

"They are demon containers like me. Besides Bee is kind of cool." Naruto said with a smile. Everyone, including Bee's own students thought Naruto had to be kidding.

"They're fine. They were rushed to the hospital after the battle to recover from their injuries. Something tells me that you'll be seeing them sooner than you think." A said.

Naruto didn't respond but he definitely hoped that to be the case. Since his mother told him about having to gain full control of Kyuubi's power, he wanted to talke to those that had completed the ordeal of conquering their demons. If they could do it and so could he.

'**I'm stronger than both of them put together.**' Kyuubi added his two cents. Naruto ignored the demon lord as they began to leave A's office. Naruto's attention went from his own problems to seeing Samui and Shino leaving together. As his brother figure left, Samui's eyes seemed to focus on him for a moment. Naruto wasn't sure what this meant but he would be sure to ask Shino about it, very soon.

**(Camp site)**

As the group of ninja settled down for a night of rest before arriving in Konoha in the morning, Naruto walked with Shino to gather firewood.

"Hey Shino can I ask you something?" Naruto questioned his long time best friend.

"Of course." Shino replied as he sent out a few insects to locate the wood they need for their fire.

"What's up with you and Samui?" Naruto bluntly asked as he turned to look at Shino.

"Pardon?" Shino said, still not looking at Naruto.

"Just looks like you guys are getting kind of comfortable around one another." Naruto said as he crossed his arms and his look began to heat up a bit. Haku was a good friend of them all and while he truly didn't believe that Shino would do anything to hurt her, it was strange that as of yet, he hadn't seen Shino do anything to stop the growing interactions between he and the Kumo ninja.

"You need not be concerned Naruto. What Samui and I hold for one another is a respect for one another's skills as ninja as well as our views on many things. She is an interesting person. However, it will go no further than that." Shino said as he walked off to a location that his allies had alerted him of having ample lumber.

"I hope so Shino, I hope so." Naruto said as he too went to pick up wood.

Back at the campsite, Hinata was looking at said kunoichi as Kakashi and Kurenai were already in their tent resting. Samui seemed to be meditating as her back was ramrod straight and her eyes were closed. She seemed completely relaxed and almost like a statue.

Hinata hadn't been as aware of the interactions between Shino and Samui until she noticed Naruto observing them the entire time they had been on the road. After this, she too began to notice that Samui stood closer to Shino than anyone else most of the time and the very, very subtle looks she sent his way would have been missed by anyone other than a Hyuga as even without their Byakugan, their eyes were very perceptive and caught even the tiniest twitch.

She was unsure if she should speak to the woman or not. That Samui had defeated Kurenai spoke to her strength and ability as a ninja and her temperament and intelligence actually were things that Hinata would liken to an Aburame.

"What is troubling you Hinata-san?" Samui asked suddenly, knocking Hinata out of her thoughts. How did Samui know that Hinata was staring at her, as the cloud ninja's eyes were closed?

"Nothing of importance." Hinata said, trying to brush it off.

"You have been staring at me for quite some time. Logic would indicate that you are thinking about something of great importance and that it pertains to me." Samui said as she opened her eyes and the locked them onto Hinata's. Hinata felt a soft chill from gazing into the eyes of Samui. They were a lighter shade that Naruto's but were much colder and harder to read. She could read nothing from Samui's eyes or her body language.

"Very well, I was simply wondering what there was between you and Shino." Hinata said as she firmed her resolve. She had faced the likes of Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru, she would not be intimidated by someone who was nowhere near as dangerous as those two men. That being said, Hinata was very surprised to see Samui's body tense ever so slightly at the statement and she broke their locked gazes and seemed to be concentrating on the ground.

"I respect Shino-san. He is a very capable ninja and we simply enjoy the conversations we have with one another." Samui said in her usual cold voice. She looked back to Hinata after composing herself but Hinata saw something in her eyes that seemed to dare her to question her statement.

"Very well. I simply wanted to inform you that Shino is already in a relationship with a very good friend of mine. I'm happy to hear that your relationship with Shino is simply platonic." Hinata said with a smile. Despite the happy expression, the subtle threat was clearly received. Samui was not one to back down and a tense atmosphere instantly formed around the women. It was at this moment that Naruto and Shino returned.

The two male shinobi could feel that they had walked in the middle of something and one look to Hinata revealed what had taken place to Naruto. Shino was familiar enough with his friends to figure out that Hinata had spoken with Samui, though the exact results of said discussion eluded him for the moment.

'Have I really let things go too far?' Shino thought. If both Naruto and Hinata were speaking out against the perceived interactions then it appeared that he had. He would have to settle things between himself and Samui quickly then.

Naruto and Hinata walked into their own tent and left Shino and Samui to keep the first watch. It had already been decided that they would all take turns in pairs. Shino sat beside Samui and thought of the best way to bring up the topic.

"Tell me about her." Samui said suddenly. Shino turned to her in surprise at the blunt question but once again had to admire her personality.

Shino began to tell her about Haku and what the ice user meant to him. He was not an open man and to tell such things to a person that just a few days ago was a complete stranger to him felt very strange but he felt comfortable around Samui, though he was unsure why. After he had finished they allowed silence to fall between them for a time.

"She must be an incredible woman to have captured your heart Shino-san." Samui stated after a while. Shino nodded and they said nothing else for the rest of their watch. As they were relieved by Kakashi and Kurenai, Shino noticed that Samui never lost a contemplative look on her face. He was unsure what it was about but and that concerned him.

**(Hidden location)**

The leader of the criminal organization named Akatsuki looked up as they completed their ritual and sealed the six tailed demon into their special statue. They were one step closer to accomplishing their goal.

"You caught this guy pretty quickly Deidara." Kisame's astral projection said as he turned to the two members that caught their latest victim.

"Hn, my art was more than he could handle!" Deidara said with a smirk.

"Oh? Zetsu here says that it was your partner that did all of the work." Kisame said with a grin that showed his sharp teeth.

"And what would that plant know!" Deidara snarled as he glared at the strange ninja in question.

"I know that you were flying around trying to find an opening while your partner charged in and defeated the demon container." The white side of Zetsu stated.

"So it could be said that you actually did nothing to contribute to this capture. I wonder why we keep you around sometimes." Zetsu's black half commented with a chuckle.

"I don't need any input from a bipolar plant!" Deidara shouted at Zetsu.

"Big talk coming from the guy who is often mistaken as a woman." The white Zetsu states calmly.

"Enough."

The bickering stopped as soon as the word was spoken. To argue with their leader was almost equal to suicide.

"We are one step closer to accomplishing our goals and conquering these lands. Itachi and Kisame, you will continue your search for the four tail demon. Deidara you and Flame shall retrieve the three tails' container from the Mist village. Hidan and Kakuzu, go to Konoha and capture the nine tails." The leader stated.

"The nine tails? I thought you said that we couldn't seal that one until the others had been captured. What's the point of wasting our time with him?" Hidan said in objection. He was the only one brave/stupid enough to question their leader.

"He has become too powerful. Itachi and Kisame failed to capture him and if the reports are true then he could be a large thorn in our side in the future. I trust that you won't screw this up." Was Hidan's reply.

"Whatever. As long as I can find a few sacrifices for Jashin-sama I guess it'll be alright." Hidan said with a snort.

"I care nothing for your stupid religion nor your fake god Hidan. However the leaf is full of very large bounties and I wouldn't mind getting a few." Kakuzu said for the first time.

"Watch your mouth before I make you a sacrifice old man!" Hidan said as he grabbed a giant three bladed scythe on his back.

"I grow tired of your bickering. You have your assignments, now fulfill them." The leader said with a sigh. The numerous S-ranked ninja nodded as they vanished.

"One step closer. Just a little more time and our dreams will come to fruition." The leader spoke as he looked at the statue.

**(Outside of Kiri)**

Deidara and his partner, whom Deidara still didn't know the true name of, were approaching the village hidden in the mist. Yagura was still held captive in the village and they would need to draw attention away from their true target.

"This time I'll take the lead hn. You go and get the three tails, I'll show this village, just as I did the hidden sand, what true art really is." Deidara said as he prepared to avoid the usual burst of fire from his partner. Surprisingly, Flame did not attack the blond ninja, he simply waited for Deidara to take to the air and fly towards the Mist village.

Mei was battling the enemy of all kage as there were stacks of paperwork on her desk. She wanted to just burn them all away either with her acid or lava but Ao would just yell at her about it so she didn't bother. She almost wished something exciting would happen. She got her wish when a large explosion went off in the village. She leapt to her feet as the alarms for an intruder began to go off.

'How did they get inside the village so easily?' She thought. She got her answer when she saw a large white bird flying over the village. The Mist, Sand and Leaf villages were well aware of the threat of Akatsuki and had been sharing any and all information. Thus Mei knew that the ninja she was seeing was Deidara of the hidden rock village and the man that had defeated Gaara a few months ago.

"Kaa-san!" Haku shouted as she raced into the room.

"Haku-chan go to the jail. If I'm right then they're here for Yagura. That the other member of this group isn't present I can only assume that Deidara is acting as a decoy. I need to go and deal with him." Mei ordered her adopted daughter. Haku nodded and raced to grab any ninja not cashing after Deidara and take them to the prison.

Deidara was having a blast! Just like the Sand village, the Mist had little defense against an enemy that attacked for the sky. However, they did have a number of ninja that could launch water projectiles and he was under extreme pressure to avoid the attacks. Still they also had to worry about putting out the numerous fires that his explosions caused.

"Art is a blast! Marvel at my masterpiece!" Deidara shouted as he created small claw sparrows and sent them flying at the mist ninja below him. They had been briefed by Mei about the known Akatsuki member's abilities. They focused on knocking the small explosive birds from the sky.

"This is getting boring. I hope that guy hurries up." Deidara muttered to himself as he continued to dodge the attacking ninja.

"You need to be more worried about yourself!" Deidara looked to the top of the building that held the Mizukage's office and noticed several high level ninja standing there. Zabuza, Mei, Ao and Chojuro were all prepared for battle. Deidara threw several of his explosive insects at them, hoping to catch some of them by surprise.

Mei made several hand signs and exhaled a mist of acid that caused the insects to explode prematurely. Deidara was blinded by the explosions and thus was taken by surprise when Zabuza appeared threw the smoke and landed on the bird beside him. The Demon of the Mist tried to part Deidara's head form his body but Deidara jumped off of the bird and formed his favored hand sign.

"Katsu!" He shouted as the bird exploded with Zabuza on it. Deidara created another flying bird, this time an owl, and observed the carnage he had created. He was a bit surprised to see no body and could only assume that Zabuza had sent a clone after him.

He did have much time to check as a large ball of lava sped past his head. Mei was finally going to deal with him herself and she was jumping from roof top to roof top to get at him. She was not the kind of opponent that he wanted to fight, what with her ability to use acid clouds to destroy his bombs, thus he took to the air and created space.

'That guy better hurry up!' They are much better prepared than the Sand village was. Deidara thought as he saw Zabuza and various other Mist anbu on the other roof tops. If he focused on one of them for too long then the others would have a clear shot at him.

'This just got a lot less fun.' Deidara thought as Mei and several other ninja began to attack him.

**(Prison)**

Haku had been able to gather a dozen jonin level shinobi and was racing towards the jail that held Yagura. She could hear her parents battling the other Akatsuki member who was serving as a diversion. She was unsure who his partner was since the death of Sasori of the red sand. They made it to the jail without seeing the enemy and Haku decided to set up a perimeter.

"Spread out, if you find him then find a way to alert the rest of us. It's a sure bet that this opponent will be another S-rank shinobi." Haku commanded. Though she was of a lower rank than them they all bowed and obeyed. To disobey Haku would be to face an angry Zabuza or Mei. None wanted to find out which was the worse parent to make angry.

Haku told two of the ninja to follow her as they went to the holding cell where Yagura was currently being held. The former kage was being kept unconscious through the use of chakra repressing seals obtained from Konoha directly from Jiraiya of the sannin. Haku looked at the young man for a while. She was too young to remember but at times Zabuza and Mei would comment on how Yagura had changed. At first he was said to be a fair leader but all of a sudden he began to despise those with bloodlines and commanded them all to be wiped out. Zabuza didn't really care why he changed, he simply thought that the man had gone crazy and needed to be put down. Mei also couldn't concern herself with the reasons for Yagura's change, she simply wanted the man out of the way so that the bloody civil war would end.

'What happened to you? Why did you grow to hate those that you once protected?' Haku thought. She turned as she felt a massive amount of killing intent coming from down the hall. She turned to the two mist ninja with her and they shook their heads in confusion. There was no way that the enemy could have gotten by all of the mist defenders outside of the jail without them being able to set off some kind of alarm. If that was the case though, then how had he gotten this far unimpeded?

"Be careful, we have no idea what he can do." Haku said as she was flanked by her allies and they prepared themselves for battle. They weren't prepared for a burnt husk that at one time had been a comrade to be thrown at them. Even hardened shinobi like them were horrified at the sight.

"W-what could have done this?" One of the mist ninja said. Haku didn't answer, mostly because she was trying to keep from throwing up. However, like a bolt of lightning she remembered when Shino spoke about the mission that he and team eight had failed. They ran across a ninja that had decimated an entire village and left his victims in states just like this.

'Could this be the same person?' Haku thought. Suddenly, the three mist ninja found it difficult to breath as a wave of heat swept across the hallway. It felt like they were in a furnace as their bodies brought out in massive sweats and they felt their energy being sapped. Haku focused on her blood line limit and was able to use her ice powers to somewhat block the oppressive heat and she and her comrades stood to their feet.

They didn't have to wait for long as the Akatsuki member only known as Flame walked calmly down the hallway. In both of his hands he held another burnt husk of a former mist ninja. They now realized why they had heard no warning. If the killing intent coming from the man wasn't enough to paralyze than the massive amount of heats coming from his body would cripple any ninja if they were alone.

"You monster!" One of the mist ninja shouted as he began to form hand signs. He was interrupted when a wisp of fire shout out of the man at them. They dispersed, just as Flame had intended. Haku was fine, but the other two mist ninja were no longer close enough to her to benefit from her powers and were hit with an even greater wave of heat. They fell to their knees panting, trying to bring cool air into their lungs.

Haku closed her eyes and focused her ice powers.

"**Ice style: frozen tundra!" **Haku called out as ice began to form on the ground as well as the walls. She had gotten good enough where she could use the water particles out of the air to use her techniques. To be truthful, the only thing keeping her from being an elite jonin was her inexperience in the field.

Her allies took advantage of the environmental change and jumped back onto the ice. Flame hadn't moved and he didn't have too. The ice stopped a good five feet from his body where the heat he gave off was too much for Haku's technique to overcome.

"**Water style: Water bullet!**" One of the mist ninja called out. Haku allowed roughly half of the ice to turn back into water for the ninja to use their techniques. The spheres of water hit Flame and a steam immediately filled the hallway.

"Look out!" Haku called as she threw several senbon in front of the mist ninja. Flame appeared in front of the man as the senbon hit him in the side. The mist ninja jumped back and allowed his comrade to attack.

"**Water style: water prison jutsu!**" The second shinobi called out as water rose around Flame to ensnare him. Haku made a hand sign and forced the ball of water to freeze, trapping the Akatsuki member.

"Haku-san, take Yagura and leave!" The first ninja said to Haku.

"What?" Haku said in confusion. They all turned and saw that the ice prison was rapidly beginning to melt. Haku formed more ice trying to keep him trapped but it was obvious that her efforts were futile. He would be free soon. Haku instead formed a giant wall of ice between him and them and turned to the ninja who had spoken.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"We can't stop him. He will get free soon enough and take Yagura. You have the best chance of escaping and finding Mizukage-sama and the rest of our forces. Even this monster will not be able to face all of you at once.

Haku was going to retort until a hand covered in fire broke through her wall and grabbed the mist ninja by the head. He gave a loud scream of pain as his body was consumed in front of their eyes by fire, leaving him a blackened corpse. The ice wall soon shattered from a giant burst of fire and Haku and her remaining ally jumped back as several balls of flame was shot at them. The second ninja was grazed on the leg and went down with third degree burns. He was able to stand and turned to Haku.

"Please go Haku-san. I will hold him off as long as I can!" He said as he created five water clones to aid him.

Haku was not one to run from a fight but she could see that she had little choice. Normal fire wasn't hot enough to break through her ice jutsus. For this man to do so with such ease was truly frightening. She ran to Yagura's cell and opened it. Also long as he was covered in the chakra seals, he would remain harmless.

She grabbed him and turned to run. She soon heard the death scream of the last mist ninja and knew that she was on her own. The rest of the mist ninja were either with Mei attempting to bring down Deidara or were rushing to put out the fires that Deidara's explosions had caused. She suddenly leapt to the side to avoid a wave of fire that had been aimed at her back. She turned around and saw that Flame was behind her, catching up quickly.

Haku formed a hand sign and created multiple walls of ice between them. She could hear and feel him burning through them easily and could feel the oppressive heat creeping along the back of her neck. She turned and was surprised to see the enemy shinobi fast approaching. He was somehow using fire to act as a propellant and would overtake her in a matter of moments. She ducked quickly to avoid his hand and kicked him in the back. She hissed in pain as feeling her foot burn slightly.

'What is he?' She thought as he turned around and stretched out a hand towards her. He shot a burst of fire. Haku created a water wall and put the attack out. She then sent the water at him and froze his legs. He grunted in annoyance and began to melt the ice.

"**Ice style: ice spears jutsu!**" several large chards of ice flew at Flame and pierced the man. Haku saw fire beginning to come from his wounds and leapt into one of the unoccupied jail cells as the fire clones burst, filling the hallway with flames.

Haku cursed her decision when she saw Flame standing in the door of the cell, cutting off her escape. He held his hand out, not to attack, but seemingly to ask for Yagura's body.

"You're not taking him!" Haku said as she formed two swords from ice. Flame walked calmly into the cell.

**(With Deidara)**

The former rock ninja was cursing his luck at having to be the distraction. He was running out of chakra and they were coming after him relentlessly. The Mizukage and Zabuza were experts at their respective combat styles and worked perfectly. Mei kept him from spamming his explosive clay and Zabuza would be right their ready to destroy his mount of he lost sight of him. Which, Deidara just realized, he just had.

Zabuza appeared behind him and kicked him dead in the face, knocking him off his clay bird. Mei took advantage and destroyed it with a lava bullet as Deidara crashed onto a roof top with Zabuza right behind him. Deidara ducked under the giant sword and threw clay spiders at Zabuza. Ao was there and threw senbon that pierced the spiders and caused them to explode. Deidara truned to run until he saw all of the nearest rooftops had at least ten mist shinobi ready for him. He turned back and saw that another swordsman of the mist along with the Mizukage were there beside Zabuza and Ao.

"Looks like you've run out of placing to run. Never liked guys who stood back and fought long range all the time. Takes all the fun out of fighting." Zabuza said with a blood thirsty grin. He was ready to finally sink his blade into flesh.

'I could really use a distraction right now.' Deidara thought, not missing the irony of that statement.

He got his wish when a large column of fire shot up into the air from the location of the mist prison.

"Haku-chan!" Mei shouted in fear. This turned everyone's attention to the explosion and Deidara took this moment to use what little clay he had left to create a giant hawk and fly into the air.

"Later!" He said with a smirk and he made for the gates.

"After him!" Zabuza shouted as he ordered Ao to take a majority of their forces and pursue Deidara. Mei was already moving full speed towards the jail and Zabuza was hot on her heels.

'Please be okay!' Mei thought with fear gripping her heart as they arrived at the ruins that used to be the mist jail.

**(Some distance away)**

Deidara had out run his pursuers and was approaching their designated meeting spot. He sat down and took a deep breath. That had been much harder than attacking the Sand village. It was obvious that they knew his abilities and were prepared for them.

'Next time someone else can be the decoy.' Deidara thought angrily. He turned when he saw Flame appearing in the distance. Over his shoulder was the captured Yagura.

"Took you long enough, hn. You have any idea how close I was to getting captured?" Deidara grumbled. He avoided a burst of fire aimed at his head and snarled at the retreating figure.

"Oh well, another down." Deidara thought as he walked beside Flame to bring their latest captive to their leader.

**(Konoha)**

The group of shinobi could see the giant gates of the Leaf village approaching and all were pleased to be back. Things had seemed to finally reach a resolution between Shino, Samui, Hinata and Naruto which the Aburame was thankful for. After careful self inventory Shino found that a big reason why he had allowed Samui close was because he was feeling lonely without Haku. Naruto had Hinata and Kurenai-sensei had Kakashi beside them while he was alone. It was nothing new for most Aburame actually preferred solitude but after changing so much from his relationships with his friends and loved ones, Shino never wanted to return to being alone again.

Shino stopped immediately and a hand went to his head. Everyone stopped as well and turned to their friends. They grew alarmed when Shino fell to one knee. They could hear his insects buzzing loudly.

"Shino what's wrong?" Kurenai asked softly.

"I-I don't know. All I can tell you is that Haku-chan's insect is dead." Shino said as his voice broke.

**(End)**

**Deepest apologies for taking so long but here is chapter 14! Hope you liked it. A mixture and work, the holidays and writer's block contributed to the long wait. But I'm past the block and will be writing much quicker now!...probably.**

**Anyway, Akatsuki is on the move. Samui seems to have feelings for Shino. Haku's fate is unknown. I wouldn't be cruel enough to leave you waiting for months on end to find out where all this is going right?**

**That is a secret! Seriously, even I don't know! **

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	15. Chapter 15

**LND 15**

**(Gates of Konoha)**

The only sound to be heard in front of the gates of Konoha was a very loud buzzing that was coming from Shino. All of his insects were expressing their displeasure at the loss of one of their own as well as the broken connection, and the implications of what that could mean, with Haku. Naruto walked to his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Shino are you sure about that?" Naruto asked softly. It was the wrong thing to say given the current situation.

"Yes Naruto, I'm quite sure that I felt one of my insects, the one that I gave specifically to Haku perish or do you think I would misinterpret such a thing?" Shino replied hotly as he turned from the Leaf village.

"Where are you going Shino?" Kurenai asked, though they all knew exactly where their normally calm teammate was heading.

"To Kiri, I must be sure that she is okay." He said.

"We can't allow that Shino. We just got back from a major mission and need to debrief the Hokage. We will take this up with her but you can't run off half cocked without knowing all the facts." Kakashi said sternly. His tone showed that it was an order.

"Would you or Naruto be able to do such a thing if it was Kurenai-sensei or Hinata?" Shino asked softly. Anger was rolling off of his rigid frame in waves.

"Probably not but going alone without any intel at all is not going to help anyone. Let's see what Hokage-sama has to say about it first." Kakashi said.

Everyone waited with held breath to see what Shino would do. Kakashi and Kurenai prepared themselves to act. They couldn't allow him to run off on his own. They were all still slightly injured and if Shino didn't listen to reason then they would have to restrain him. Neither wanted to do it and Kakashi agreed that had it been Kurenai, he would have already been on his way.

"Very well." Shino said as he turned and walked into the village.

"Be at peace Shino-san. If what you've told me about her is correct then I'm sure that she will have found a way out of whatever peril she was in. Also, logic dictates that we meet with your Hokage and alert her of the situation, she might have knowledge that can aid you and also put your mind at ease." Samui stated in her normal tone. She was the only one not to look at him with sorrow or pity and Shino felt slightly comforted by that.

He took a deep breath and focused on the logical course of action. Running off immediately was an emotional response and Aburame had been taught since they were old enough to learn that they were to never allow emotion cloud their judgment to the point that they couldn't make logical decisions. Shino realized that his insects were still loud enough to draw the attention of various citizens in the village and forced them to be calm. It worked, to a point, but there was still a slight buzz from their agitation.

The various ninja followed being Shino. Naruto and Hinata were surprised that Samui's statement had been able to get through to Shino but they were grateful all the same. Kakashi and Kurenai were very happy that they didn't have to restrain Shino as that might had done irreparable damage to the trust they had with him. Still, they were all quite aware of the brisk pace that Shino was taking to Tsunade's office.

**(Hokage's office)**

Tsunade listened to everything that was reported from the successful mission at Kumo to the troubling news that Shino had give her. She thought long and hard for a moment on what to proper course of action should be. She had heard nothing from the Mist village, but if Shino was right then whatever had occurred took place a few minutes ago. Depending on the situation, she could hear from Mei in a few days, or she might not hear from her at all. This was a delicate situation.

"I'll send for an update from Kiri within the hour, but that's all I can do for now." Tsunade finally coming to a decision. No one was surprised to hear a deafening buzzing sound come from Shino, though his face only showed a slight frown.

"I'm sorry Shino but we have no idea what's taken place. Haku could have been injured on a mission for all we know. Perhaps she even escaped harm and her insect was destroyed while she escaped. The point is that we can't go in blind. Besides you and your team have just completed a long and tiring mission from what you've all told me. Go and rest, and I'll let you know when I find anything out." Tsunade said with an apologetic tone.

Shino turned and began to walk out of the room. He had suppressed his insect's noise but the tension in his body was visible to all. Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder, only to have Shino shake it off and slam the door behind him. Samui bowed to Tsunade and followed the departing Aburame.

"Naruto you remain, everyone else go and rest up. Job well done." Tsunade said with a sigh. Hinata could see that Shino's dismissal hurt Naruto and she gave him a brief hug and kiss before leaving. Kakashi and Kurenai also exited and headed home leaving Naruto with his adoptive mother.

"So you met with Kushina did you? How did that go?" Tsunade asked, a bit too nonchalantly.

"Don't worry Kaa-san, this just means that I've been blessed with two mothers." Naruto said with a soft smile, being able to read Tsunade's anxiety.

Tsunade relaxed suddenly and allowed the irrational fear that Naruto wouldn't consider her his mother anymore after meeting Kushina to pass away. She was very protective and loving of Naruto and couldn't bear to lose the place she had in his life.

"Okay then, now that we've gotten that crazy idea out of my head what do you want me to do?" Tsunade asked feeling tired for Naruto. He had so much piled on his shoulders.

He had to deal with the burden of the nine tailed fox placed on him at birth and the sup sequential distrust and hate that the villagers had for him, along with having the power of legendary dragons that while powerful, all seemed to give Naruto numerous problems, and just to add icing on the cake, there was a criminal group composed of S-ranked missing ninja that were trying to capture and kill him.

Naruto was a bit surprised when Tsundae stood and slowly walked to him, enveloping the teen in a bone crushing hug.

"You go through too much Naruto. Not even when I was a part of the three sannin did I have so much asked and expected of me. How do you stay strong and not crumble under the pressure?" Tsunade asked, truly wondering.

"It's because I have friends and family there to make the burden easier. You all look out for me and care for me and I'll take on what I have and more to keep you all safe." Naruto responded as he held her as well.

"That was beautiful."

Both blondes jumped away at the unexpected voice and turned, in battle positions, to face whoever had the ability to sneak up on two high level ninja.

"You again!" Tsuande seethed at laying eyes on the mysterious man. He was still covered from head to toe in a black cloak and seemed to be wiping his eyes with a tissue.

"Oh please don't stop on my behalf! I love moments like these." He said as he took a seat and seemed to wait for them to continue their heartfelt moment from before.

"Last time I saw you was after I'd defeated Bahamut where'd you go?" Naruto asked, not in the mood for games.

"There was something I needed to take care of." He replied, equally as serious.

"And that would be?" Tsunade asked irritably.

"The birth of the new earth dragon." He said simply. That response derailed anything that either Naruto or Tsunade was going to say and they looked at him for a long moment.

"A new earth dragon. So when one of them dies you just go and get a brand new one like throwing away a used kunai?" Naruto said softly, thought he anger in his tone was palpable.

"Calm yourself Naruto. Tatsuo's sacrifice was neither overlooked nor will it be forgotten. He was the eldest of the dragons and will always be remembered but for every element there must be a dragon lord. The new earth dragon will be similar to Tatsuo though, if that makes you feel better.

"When do I meet him?" Naruto said after giving that some thought.

"You have other things to worry about. You'll never be able to even hold your sword if you don't gain control over the demonic chakra that the Kyuubi releases through your body. You've already begun to experience it haven't you? The ease in which it's brought out and the sheer volume of chakra that is released during these times? You need to focus on controlling the fox's power before I can teach you anything else. I'm sure Kushina will be able to help you and go find Jiraiya. After you complete that, I'll be in touch." He said as he stood and walked to the door.

"Can't you help him?" Tsuande said, her accusation clearly sent.

"Yes I could." He said as he walked out the door and left.

"Well isn't he helpful." Tsunade said, practically grinding her teeth together in anger.

"You get used to it. He's right though. I need to see Jiraiya and find out what I need to do to master Kyuubi's power." Naruto said as he walked to the door.

"Naru-chan." Tsuande said suddenly.

"Yes, Kaa-san?" Naruto asked. He saw a multitude of emotions pass through her eyes so quick that he couldn't name them.

"Nothing. Just take care of yourself." She said as she turned to look out of the window.

"Always." He said with a small grin, though he could tell that whatever she wanted to saw was important.

'Oh well, she'd tell me if it was really important.' He thought as he left.

Tsunade sighed as she heard the door close. She was close to telling Naruto about Akatsuki's new member who had attacked a group of chunin weeks ago. His description matched exactly the strange monster that had caused team eight so much pain and grief on that ill fated mission long ago. However she didn't want to add another problem on him. He already had too much on his mind.

She'd keep that bit of information to herself for a while longer. At least until things had calmed down a bit.

**(With Shino)**

Shino walked without a true destination in mind. It was taking all of his self control not to bolt towards the gates and run full speed towards the Mist village. However, he had his orders and without knowing all the fact, Tsunade was completely correct in her command. That didn't make it any easier for him though.

He had felt haku's emotions, at least a bit of them, before his lost connection with his insect. She was in a battle, that much he could tell from her levels of adrenaline and aggression. But what stood out most of all was an emotion that he didn't normally attribute to her in a battle.

Fear.

Haku was trained by Zabuza and in the midst of battle she was as cool as her ice element and as vicious as the demon of the mist. Fear, even when she had battled against Jugo years ago, was not an emotion that he felt from her. It wasn't just fear though, he felt something akin to desperation.

'What could have happened? Was it a mission gone wrong? Would Mei-sama put her daughter in dangerous situations that she couldn't handle?' He thought. Not knowing was killing Shino. Haku had his heart, losing her would destroy him.

"Shino-san."

Shino stopped and turned to look at Samui. She had been following him for the entire time but had yet to speak. For the first time he focused on how others were looking at her. It was no secret that the Cloud and Leaf villages had had their differences in the past. Thus is a strange seeing a jonin from the hidden cloud walking in their village during a time that wasn't the chunin exams.

"I wish to be alone for a while Samui-san." He said in a level tone.

"I can understand why but I don't believe that you are looking at this situation logically." She replied. Shino turned to her with an inquisitive air, waiting for her to elaborate.

"From what you've told me she is a powerful ninja. Tell me, did you feel any pain of injury from your ally before it perished?" She asked.

"No the connection was broken abruptly." Shino said as Samui walked up to him and together they began aimlessly walking around the village.

"Do you believe that she could easily killed?" She said calmly.

"I have seen her take on large odds and make it out alive." He said starting to feel better.

"Then trust in her. You will learn the truth soon. Dwelling on it will accomplish nothing but trouble your mind and affect your skills. As a shinobi you should know this." She stated as she looked at him with a critical eye.

"We are not machines Samui-san. We have feelings, emotions, and individual personalities." Shino said shortly, feeling a bit defensive.

"This is correct but we must also not allow those very things to distract us from doing what needs to be done or we will be of no use to our comrades and village." She said.

Shino didn't reply. He felt like he was speaking to someone from his clan. Her analytical mind was eerily similar to an Aburame.

"You speak from experience?" Shino asked as he felt there was more behind her words.

"I have a brother. We both are assigned high ranking missions and it is not abnormal for me to go without hearing from him for weeks at a time. I worry, but I don't allow it to impede my work. That would be a betrayal to my teammates." She said.

Shino nodded in agreement. Everything she was saying was completely logical and accurate. It actually felt a bit refreshing to speak with another that could calm analyze a situation and keep a cool, calm head as they worked things out.

"I thank you for your words Samui-san." He said as he seemed to relax a bit.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you show me where I will be staying for my duration in your village?" Samui asked after a moment of silence.

"Of course." Shino said. It was only fair to aid her as she had him.

**(Naruto)**

Naruto walked in the direction of the one location that he was sure to find Jiraiya. The perverted sannin was either at the secret waterfall that many kunoichi liked to visit during the warmer months or he was at the hot springs doing "research".

He and Tsunade had worked out something of an agreement. As long as he kept it to a minimum she wouldn't get on him too much for his hobbies. However, he had sweetly informed him that if she ever heard or saw anything that could somewhat, almost, possibly, maybe construed as material based off their relationship, no one would ever be able to put him back together again after she was done ripping him into little tiny pieces.

"Oh Ero-sennin I need your help." Naruto said as he found his father's teacher in a tree with his microscope looking over the hot spring walls.

"I'm busy brat." He said absentmindedly as he began to write something on his notepad.

"It's about my mother." Naruto said in irritation.

"Tsunade is fine and no I'm not giving you any pointers for when you and Hinata decide to take it to the next level." The elder ninja said, once again brushing off Naruto's comment.

"It's about my biological mother Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto said simply. Jiraiya froze and slowly turned to look at Naruto for the first time. He jumped from the branch and landed in front of the teen.

"What about her?" Jiraiya asked, suddenly completely serious.

Naruto proceeded to tell him about the mission to the Cloud village and everything that had happened after. From summoning Bahamut, to the death of Tatsuo and the near fatal killing of Drac, to his mother's appearance and her aiding him in battle enabling him to defeat the mighty foe. Jiraiya lifted up Naruto's shirt and to inspect the seal.

"The Uzumaki weren't known as seal masters for nothing. She's right. It's deteriorating at an alarming rate." The toad sage said gravely.

"What do we do about it?" Naruto asked, his fears now confirmed.

"What did Kushina tell you to do?" Jiraiya asked, though he said it as if he already knew the answer.

"She said I have to defeat Kyuubi in battle and gain complete control over his power." Naruto said.

"Sucks to be you." The white haired sannin said with a sigh as he shook his head.

"You going to help me or not?" Naruto asked with a glare.

"Calm down Naruto. I'll help. But from what you're telling me you have to do this completely alone without aid. Does that mean that you can't use the power of the dragons either?" Jiraiya asked, unsure about this one thing.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask but that would even the playing field." Naruto said with a bit of optimism.

"Hmm, even so I think it's time that I help you complete the rasengan." Jiraiya said with a contemplative look on his face.

Naruto looked up in surprise. For the last three years he had been bugging Jiraiya to help him add his wind element to the rasengan but he always was shot down but Jiraiya telling him that he wasn't ready for such a technique just yet. Thus they focused to training his wind affinity, knowing that the more comfortable he became with his element, the easier it would be when it was finally time to complete Minato's only unfinished jutsu.

"You're going to need it just in case your scaly friends don't show up again to help you. From what you've told me, Kyuubi could whip them all about as badly as Bahamut did.

'**Worse.**' Naruto heard Kyuubi's booming chuckles in his cage.

"Let's get started." Naruto said the familiar gleam entering his eyes as he set his sights on a new goal.

"Nope, I'm busy doing research! Let's start tomorrow." Jiraiya said as he jumped back onto the tree branch.

Naruto jumped and kicked Jiraiya over the women's bath wall and began laughing at hearing the pain filled cries from the saninn as the women got their hands on him. It would only get worse as Tsunde would find out about it later on and would have to give him a beating just to appease the women and show a firm stance against perverts.

'I won't be able to train with him for a few days until he gets out of the hospital but it was so worth it.' Naruto thought as he walked to his apartment to relax before meeting up with Hinata later.

**(Training ground)**

Sakura was reading a large medical book and had a few stacks of similar large, heavy novels beside her resting on the back of Rock Lee. The taijutsu expert was doing pushups with his girlfriend and as much weight as could be added on his back. He was moving slowly so as not to disturb her reading.

'If I cause even a hair on her head to be out of pace due to my training then I will do one thousand hand stands around the village.' Lee thought as he continued to exercise.

Sakura stopped reading briefly to look at the naked back of her boyfriend. Rock Lee was one of the greatest taijutsu experts in the village and his body told the tale. It was littered with scars from small lines to the orange sized circle that showed where Kimimaro had stabbed him. It was this one that she gently laid her hand. Lee stopped and turned to look at her. Despite the large amount of weight that she and her books had to be pressing on him, he looked to be fine, a testament to his physical strength.

"I trust that you are no longer concerning yourself with that injury Sakura-chan. I would take it and many others to ensure you live." Lee said softly. Being around Sakura had taught him to control the level of his voice and he did not shout to the heavens as much, though he was still prone to do it when happy.

"I haven't forgotten what happened Lee-kun. It was after you took that injury that I was committed to never being weak again and having to allow you to take so much damage for my sake. And don't forget how strong I am Lee-kun. I could take you out with one punch." She said with a smile.

"You would have to catch me first my cheery blossom. Strength means nothing if you cannot hit your opponent." Lee said with a smirk of his own. Sakura huffed at this statement as she knew it to be true. She could crush boulders with her fingers but had never been able to lay a hand on Lee if he didn't allow it.

"Lee!"

Sakura and Lee got up to see Gai running towards them at break neck speed. Little had changed about the elite jonin in the three years since Orochiamru's invasion. He still wore the same green leotard and leg warmers with his jonin vest and his eye brows were still giant and fuzzy.

"Gai-sensei have you come to join me in training?" Lee asked happily. Ever since team Gai had all turned chunin, they saw less and less of their leader as he was sent on separate missions.

"Unfortunately I'm not my young pupil. This is a team mission. Hokage-sama has commanded us to inspect some unusual activity at a nearby temple!" Gai said loudly with a bright smile. Sakura sighed as Lee literally began to jump for joy at the news that he would be reunited with the man most like a father to him.

"Gather your things Lee and meet me at the gates in one hour. Neji and Tenten have already been told about this and will be waiting for us." Gai said as he took off in a cloud of dust. It seemed that he too was excited about reuniting the old team.

Lee went to grab his shirt. It had been a battle of monumental proportions but Sakura was finally able to get Lee to change from his green leotard to a new outfit. The young chunin had been afraid that Gai would be upset with him but the exact opposite happened. The male jonin told Lee that he was happy that he was finally going to make his own decision in life and not follow in his footsteps.

'Lee! You will be a great shinobi in your own right! You have no need to mimic my style of dress or hair style. Make your own path and show the world what a splendid ninja you are!" Gai had said.

Lee now wore a dark green shirt with black jacket that had a lion's roaring head in the middle. He wore black pants with green strips and carried his naginata on his back. He kept his hair in the same style simply because longer hair would become cumbersome. Sakura had still been unable to get him to shave his eyebrows.

'According to Tsuande-sama, there are just some things that a man won't do without despite his woman's ire.' Sakura thought as he gathered her books to head back to the hospital. It was almost time for her shift and to relieve Shizune.

"You better come back to me alive Lee-kun or you know what will happen right?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hai! Should I fail to return you will bring me back from the afterlife to beat me within an inch of my life, and then you will heal me and repeat the beating." Lee said as he gave a salute, seemingly unaffected by the threat from Sakura.

"It's so good to have a boyfriend who listens." Sakura said as she kissed him on the cheek. That was also an agreement between them. When one was going on a mission the other would only kiss them on the cheek stating that they would have to return safely for the rest.

"I will return Sakura-chan. I cannot die yet." Lee said as he gave her the thumbs up and sparkling smile that was is version of a promise to live and be victorious. Sakura watched as Lee, like Gai, left in a cloud of dust.

'Some things never change.' Sakura thought as she stopped and suddenly felt a chill up her spine. She shook it off and continued on to the hospital.

**(Village gates)**

Tenten and Neji waited for the arrival of their sensei and teammate. Tenten's hair style had not changed as she still wore it in a twin bun look. However, her attire had undergone several changes. She now sports a long-sleeved white blouse with a high collar and red fastener and edges paired with similarly colored, puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages. She holds a giant tool summoning scroll on her back that she uses when fighting.

Neji was clad in traditional Hyūga robes: a white shirt with loose sleeves, closed on the right shoulder, with a fastener running down the right part of the chest, matching pants, with a dark navy grey apron tied around his waist and black shinobi sandals. Neji had actually improved in rank to that of a jonin, the only one of the former rookies to have done so by this point.

"How long do you think it will take Neji-kun?" Tenten asked her boyfriend.

"They will be arriving in a matter of moments." Neji replied.

"Did you use your Byakugan to see them coming?" Tenten asked.

"No I simply am looking at the twin dust clouds rapidly approaching." Neji said dully as Tenten turned to see the aforementioned clouds coming from the market area.

They covered their eyes to avoid getting dirt in them when Lee and Gai appeared in front of them in a flash.

"Lee! Your speed as increased I had to actually try to beat you here!" Gai praised Rock Lee.

"Thank you Gai-sensei! I will be even faster in the future until I surpass you." Lee shouted just as loud. With Sakura no longer beside him, he seemed to lose his ability to speak in normal tones.

"Would you two shut it!" Tenten shouted in anger as she grabbed the scroll on her back.

"Calm yourself Tenten-chan. We need them in one piece." Neji said as he calmed her down.

"Alright team our mission is to head to a temple close by that is inhabited by a group of monks that have aided Konoha in the past in several endeavors. We received a message saying they had come under attack." Gai informed them suddenly serious.

"Do we know how attacked them?" Tenten asked.

"Unfortunately we don't. But there are rumors that this might be the work of the Akatsuki." Gai said in a grim tone.

"And we are going by ourselves?" Neji asked with narrowed eyes. The entire konoha force had been informed about the Akatsuki and the danger they presented.

"There are multiple teams being scrambled and if we run into them then we are to send a signal for backup. Neji you will lead. If they are as powerful as advertized then you should see their chakra from a good distance away." Gai ordered. Though they were both of the same rank, Neji deferred to Gai.

"Hai Gai-sensei." The younger ninja said as the gates opened and they raced off to meet the threat to their ally and village.

It wasn't a long trip the temple but there was complete silence even between the two boisterous members. They all knew the danger of the Akatsuki and while many of the members were still a mystery, the fact that Itaichi Uchiha and Kisame were a part of it only showed just how dangerous any member of the team must be. They arrived at the temple before any other konoha team and were stunned by the damage. According to Gai, this temple held many powerful monks that could give even he and Kakashi a run for their money. Most of the monks were dead and the ones alive were in critical states.

"Who could have done this?" Gai asked with shock on his face. Team Gai looked at their sensei with surprise on their faces. They had rarely seen Gai looked so shaken.

"Neji you said that there were no large chakra signatures close by which means that they must have left a while ago. We can't let them escape. Lee and myself will run ahead and if we run across them then we will alert you with flaring our chakra." Gai said softly.

"Gai-sensei?" Neji asked in confusion. It was not a good idea to split up and without him there then both he and Lee could literally run right into the Akatsuki members before they even knew what hit them.

"I understand that this is not the best idea but it is the only course of action that we have available to us. If they could do something like this then if they run across any other team deployed right now, they could kill them before we get a signal." Gai said with a small smile but the team could tell that the scene they found themselves in had shaken Gai.

"I still must protest Gai-sensei. If you and Lee were to run into them by yourselves then there is no guarantee that you will not be defeated before getting a signal to Tenten-chan and I. We must do this together. If they are in fire country then it is unlikely that they will be in a hurry to leave before completing their objective." Neji protested.

"How do we know that this wasn't their objective?" Tenten asked.

"So far, they have only shown a penchant for attacking those carrying one of the nine demons. However, our intel from the cloud village has revealed that they have also be discretely taking missions at almost half the cost of the five great villages to earn money. This being the case it is possible that they have also resorted to collecting bounties that could garner them large sums of money for whatever their plan is. Gai-sensei was there a particular monk here that would have a large bounty on their heads?" Neji asked after explaining himself.

"There was one. The head monk was a teammate of Asuma when they were a part of the twelve fire lord guards." Gai said, seeing the validity of Neji's comments.

"Do you know the nearest bounty collection center nearby?" Tenten said, excited that a plan was developing.

"Yes I do! Excellent deductive work Neji. We have no guarantee that they will be there but it is a good start. I loathe leaving so many good men in such states but we have to keep moving." Gai said, torn between wanting to find the Akatsuki members and wanting to care for the injured and dead monks around them.

Tenten grabbed her large scroll on her back and opened it. Using a bit of her blood she summoned a kunai with a flash flare on it and threw it into the air. A large ball of light appeared and would alert a closer team to come.

"I'll leave a note for them to bury the bodies and care for the injured." Tenten said as she summoned a small scroll and began writing her message. After this they went around and helped all those that they could until further help arrived and then they were off. They didn't like that they left the injured there but they had to see if they could stop further slaughter.

Team Gai made good time and found themselves hiding, with the nearest bounty station in view. They had no way of knowing if the Akatsuki members were here or not but Neji's eyes had warned them of two very powerful chakra signatures in the station. However, there was something off about both of them, though he couldn't tell what that meant.

"What's the plan?" Tenten whispered beside him.

"We first have to be sure that they are inside. If they are then you will send a flare to alert the other teams that we have found them. Gai-sensei and Lee are fast enough that they should be able to distract them long enough for the other teams to make it to our location.

"What about us?" Tenten asked, not wanting to be left out of the battle.

"I must stay hidden long enough to figure out what makes their signatures so strange. I can't do this in the middle of battle as I will need absolute concentration. You are to provide long range support from the cover of the trees." Neji said as he continued to observe the outpost with his eyes.

"Hey you and my father have been teaching me how to be a more well rounded shinobi. I'm just as deadly up close as I am with range." She huffed.

"Yes you are and your new techniques will be troublesome for many enemies but these are different. The Akatsuki is not something to take lightly. Lee and Gai-sensei are experts at what they do as you are with your weapons. We can't take risks." Neji said softly so as not to set off the quick temper that he had becoming very familiar with over the last few years.

Tenten had nothing to say to that so she kept quiet and waited for the signal. Neji signaled to Gai and Lee that the two powerful chakra signatures were about to reveal themselves. Gai turned to Lee and could see that his apprentice was fully prepared for battle. He took a moment to feel proud of his former team. All three of them were about to run across some of the most powerful missing ninja in the world and yet none of them showed any signs of fear or apprehension.

"Prepare yourself Lee. Once they leave that building it is up to you and I to occupy them until reinforcements arrive." Gai said.

"Hai Gai-sensei I will not let you down." Lee whispered back, never taking his eyes off of the target.

Two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them soon appeared. One of them had silver hair slicked back with purple eyes. He wore his Akatsuki cloak open with no shirt, only pants under it revealing his Yugakure forehead protector around his neck and a strange amulet. He also cared a triple bladed scythe on his back.

The other member was a tall, tan, muscular man that towered over his partner. He wore a white hood and a black mask, with his eyes being the only visible part of his face. His eyes had an unusual coloring: green irises, no pupils and red sclera. Nothing else about his seemed unique but Neji was completely confused as to what he was seeing from the man's chakra signature. It made no sense to the Hyuuga heir.

"What a waste of time! We went through all of that just so you could make some money!" Hidan seethed as he looked at his taller teammate.

"Quite your whining you were able to perform your stupid ritual and I was able to acquire more funds for our organization." Kakuzu replied in a dull tone.

"Don't you dare disrespect Jashin-sama you godless worm!" Hidan said as he grabbed the triple bladed scythe on this back and pointed it at Kakuzu.

"Put that thing away." Kakuzu said.

"What you scared to fight now you coward?" Hidan taunted.

"No, we have guests." Kakuzu said as he turned to look at the hidden team Gai.

'How did he know we were here?' Gai thought as Kakuzu's gaze was about to turn to Neji and Tenten.

"Let's move Lee." Gai said as he and Lee leapt from their cover and appeared in front of the deadly duo.

"Maito Gai. There is quite the bounty on his head." Kakuzu said, sizing up the elite jonin.

"I don't care anything about that! I'm going to sacrifice him to Jashin-sama! You can have the pipsqueak." Hidan said as he turned a crazed smile to Gai.

"No way. If I let you have your way you might not leave enough to be recognizable to retrieve the bounty. I let you have your fun at that fire temple, now we do things my way." Kakuzu ordered with a glare.

"You want to die first old man?" Hidan snarled as he pointed his weapon at his partner.

"Gai-sensei, they do not seem to like each other that much." Lee said as he and Gai watched the two members of the deadly criminal origination argue back and forth.

Hidan and Kakuzu stopped arguing when they saw a flare rise into the air.

"So there are more than these two. If not for you I wouldn't have gotten distracted and would have sensed their presence." Kakuzu said.

"What do I care? They can bring as many as they want. They will all die." Hidan shouted as he leapt towards Gai and swung his scythe down at the green clad jonin. Gai jumped away from the blow and back flipped a few feet.

"Get back here!" Hidan shouted as he raced after Gai. Lee fall into his taijustsu stance and prepared himself for Kakuzu's attack. He was surprised to find that Kakuzu hadn't moved an inch. In fact he wasn't even looking at Lee his focus was on Hidan who was still trying to catch Gai.

"You're pretty fast but I guess that's to be expected of a coward who's used to running away!" Hidan shouted as he once again failed to hit Gai with his scythe.

"I'm not just fast!" Gai said as he turned swiftly and hit Hidan in the side of the head with a swift kick. Hidan was thrown back by the force of the blow and appeared dazed. Gai took this as an opportunity to press his attack.

Hidan came up swinging with wild and random attacks but Gai was far too skilled to fall for such an a thing. He ducked under a strike and laid a devastating punch to the sternum of Hidan. The silver haired ninja coughed up blood as he felt a rib or two crack. Gai followed up with a kick to the chin that shot Hiden into the air. Gai jumped and performed a spin kick that sent Hidan sliding at the feet of Kakuzu.

"That's what you get for underestimating your opponent. If you would have waited I could have told you that Maito Gai is considered one of the most powerful jonin in the leaf village. Why do you think his bounty is so high?" Kakuzu sighed as Hidan jumped to his feet.

"No one asked for your opinion!" Hidan said as he glared at Gai.

"In case you are as dumb as I assume that you are, I'll inform you that there are two more in the woods hiding and that one of them has signaled for reinforcements." Kakuzu stated as he turned to look at Tenten and Neji. They both silently cursed as they revealed themselves. It was foolish to attempt to continue to hide once their position was compromised. They moved to stand beside Gai and Lee.

"They can bring the whole leaf village if that want! It doesn't change anything! I'll slaughter that green clad fool by my own hands." Hidan shouted as he moved to attack Gai again, ignoring the tree teammates.

Tenten moved to stop him with her weapons when Neji pulled her back suddenly. She only just avoided having her face split in half as Hidan was now using the chain attached to his scythe to use the weapon as a deadly whip. Had Neji not seen the action Tenten would have been killed.

'He wasn't even looking at me.' Tenten thought in astonished fear.

They looked on as Hidan continued to twirl the three bladed weapon. Gai, seeing the danger pulled out his nunchucks. He quickly caught the scythe in the chain connecting the wooden weapons together. Gai leapt back as Hidan pulled backed and attacked once again. Gai dodged the attack and swiftly raced to Hidan. The problem the Akatsuki member took was overextending himself. Gai knew that the best solution was to wait for the right moment and attack the man himself. Continuing to dodge or block would accomplish nothing.

Gai was upon him within moments had swung at Hidan's head. He was surprised to see a long metal spike held in Hidan's left hand appear and block the strike. Hiden kicked Gai in the chest with surprising force and pulled back his scythe, hoping to catch Gai in the back as he tried to recover from the blow. Gai turned and kicked the weapon away from himself as he threw a handful of shuriken at Hidan. His eyes narrowed as Hidan didn't even attempt to dodge and allowed the steel weapons to lodge into his chest.

"That hurts!" Hidan spat as he pulled his scythe back into his hand and attacked Gai with both the scythe and the long metal spike. Gai found himself hard pressed to keep up with his opponent. No matter how hard he struck him Hidan refused to give an inch and continued to hound the elite jonin. Strangely enough Hidan didn't seem to be aiming for any lethal blows. He looked to just be trying to cause any sort of injury.

"We have to help Gai-sensei." Tenten said.

"If you move to help your sensei then I will step in. Do you believe that you can handle me?" Kakuzu said with a dark chuckle.

"If that is what we must do then so be it!" Lee said as he pulled out his naginata. Neji fell into the jyuuken stance as Tenten pulled the large scroll off of her back.

"How annoying." Kakuzu muttered as he arms suddenly shot out and grabbed Tenten and Neji by the neck. His arms seemed to be connected to black tendrils and he quickly pulled back and threw the two captured ninja into the tree line. Lee knew that both would be fine and moved to attack Kakuzu.

'He's almost as fast as Maito Gai. This boy could one day have a pretty large bounty on his head.' Kakuzu thought as he dodged Lee's attacks.

Kakuzu ducked and kicked back. Dodging Lee's attack and catching Neji, who had recovered and attempted to attack in the Akatsuki's blind spot, in the chest. Neji spat up blood from the crushing blow and rolled away.

Lee, angered by his teammate's injury, opened the first and second gate. His speed and strength tripled in an instant and he slashed Kakuzu across the chest and followed up with a kick to the chin that sent him flying into the air. Lee quickly jumped and wrapped Kakuzu in his bandages.

"**Front lotus!**" Lee shouted as they began to spin at high speed and crashed into the ground. Lee leapt back from the large crater just as Tenten was flying overhead.

She opened her scroll and spread a small amount of her blood on the seals written on it. She weapons summoned multiple large shurkien and three them all into the crater before performing the sign to ignite the explosive seals that she had carved into blade of the shuriken. A large explosion rocked the landscape.

"Tenten don't you think that was a bit overkill?" Lee asked as he looked at the large cloud of dust and smoke that her attack had caused.

"No such thing. There's only dead and not dead enough. I just make sure that no opponent falls into the latter of those categories." Tenten said with an overly cheerful smile. Other than Sakura, Tenten was the only females that legitimately frightened Lee at times.

"Get back!" Neji creid as he jumped in front of them.

"**Kaiten**!" he said as he formed the protective chakra dome around himself. A moment later black tendrils slammed into the defensive jutsu and bounced away.

"No way!" Tenten cried out as Neji stopped his spin and stared into the smoke cloud with his byakugan.

"Very impressive. I might have to take you kids a bit more seriously than I first thought." Kakuzu said as he walked out of the crater seemingly uninjured. Other than his clothing, which was burned and cut, there was not a mark on him.

"I see." Neji said as his byakugan was able to reveal just how Kakuzu was able to do such a thing.

"Lee, Tenten-chan you must go and aid Gai-sensei. It seems only I will be able to injury him." Neji said as he commanded his teammates.

"What? Have you lost your mind? He took Lee's Frontal Lotus and my kill shot and walked away like it was nothing." Tenten seethed.

"Yes and my eyes show me just how he was able to do such a thing. Trust me when I say that it will take my jyuuken to cause him any significant damage." Neji said, never taking his eyes off of Kakuzu.

"But you're also injured. Fighting an Akatsuki alone is nearly suicide." Tenten argued.

"Then you shall stay with him Tenten. Gai-sensei and my own styles complement one another better than either of the two of you. You two fight better as a team." Lee said as he turned to go and help Gai.

"Are you two really going to fight me? It'll only result in your deaths and as I don't recognize either of you from the recent bounty books, I really have no desire to do anything but collect the head of Maito Gai and continue on with my mission of acquiring the Kyuubi's container." Kakuzu stated dully. If it didn't pertain to either money or an order from the leader of their group, he cared little about it.

"Well you're about to be disappointed because you won't touch either or sensei or our comrade." Tenten said as she pulled out five kunai and let them fly.

"**Shuriken shadow clone jutsu!**" She signed as the kunai multiplied until five became twenty. She was shocked to see them bounce off of his skin, which took on a darker color.

"He's using his earth element to make his skin harder than diamond." Neji said.

"Well isn't that nice." She muttered, realizing that she didn't have a weapon strong enough to break through diamond.

"You're hoping that your gently fist style will give you the ability to cause me damage as it will focus moreso on inner trauma rather than outward correct? An interesting plan but my skin is strong enough that your style will not help you." Kakuzu said focusing on Neji. Neji's eyes narrowed at having his plan so easily figured out.

"Yes boy I know all about your style of taijutsu. I have faced Hyuuga before and found them annoying pests, easily squashed." He snorted.

"We shall see." Neji said a bit unnerved by Kakuzu expressing such knowledge about his family's secret style.

Lee arrived in time to catch Hidan's scythe on his naignata blade and stop him from slashing Gai's chest open. Gai immediately sent a crushing kick to Hidan chest and the silver haired ninja flipped back with a snarl.

"Learn your place boy. I'll sacrifice you to lord Jahin after I deal with your annoying teacher." Hidan said with a sadistic smirk.

"Lee, this opponent is like none you have ever faced before." Gai said as he looked to his pupil.

"He shall far before us like all others Gai-sensei!" Lee said, a fire clearly seen in his eyes.

"Yes he shall." Gai said as together they opened the third gate and underwent the transformation that followed unleashing such power.

"What do you know? You two might not be as boring as I first thought." Hidan said as they prepared for him.

"Hmm, the boy can open the hidden gates. He might one day garner a bounty as large as Maito Gai's if allowed to live." Kakuzu said as he turned his back to Neji and Tenten to observe the other battle.

"Don't turn your back on us!" Tenten shouted as she leapt at him, unsealing a pair of tonfa as she did so.

"Tenten!" Neji called out as Kakuzu turned and grabbed her around her neck.

"A waste of my time." He muttered as he tightened his hold and snapped Tenten's neck.

"No!" Neji cried out.

"It's her own fault." Kakuzu said dismissively. As he was about to throw away the body it changed into a large dark cylinder.

"I'm not as stupid as you seem to think!" Tenten called from the air as she formed a hand seal. The cylinder began to spray a dark and sticky fluid in all directions.

'Is that oil?' Neji thought as the sent hit his nose.

"**Fire style: dragon fire jutsu!**" Tenten called out as she shot a dragon headed shaped ball of flames down on Kakuzu. Neji leapt away just as an inferno erupted from the fire igniting the oil. Tenten landed beside him and watched to see if her plan bore any fruit.

"You didn't have to call out liked that, you might have over sold it." Tenten said as she smirked at Neji. His eyes had alerted him to what she was doing before she even started her plan.

"It seems to have gained his attention though." Neji said as Kakuzu, with flames still licking across his body, walked towards them, looking like a demon from the fiery pits themselves.

"You're really not going to alow me to watch the other fight are you?" Kakuzu said with a sigh.

"Very well then, I'll kill you quickly." He said as he appeared right behind them.

'Such speed! I didn't see anything!' Neji thought as he and Tenten avoided his punch that crushed the ground.

'Just great it's almost like he's as fast and strong as Gai-sensei and Lee.' Tenten thought to herself as she and Neji regrouped.

"First you wanted to fight me and now you've decided that you don't? That's the problem with young brats like you. You can never make up your minds." Kakuzu said as he advanced towards them.

**(Konoha)**

Tsunade was busy writing a letter to send by way of a bird to Kiri to get an update on Haku. Surprisingly enough she heard a tap on her window and opened it to see a similar bird, breed in the mist village with a message attached to it.

'This isn't good.' Tsunade thought. She had been praying that she heard no response until she asked Mei herself. The timeframe was much too short for the message to contain anything other than news on Haku and she doubted that Mei would send a carrier bird if the young ice user was perfectly okay.

Tsunade unraveled the small message and slowly read it. She crumbled the paper in a fist and a snarl and called for Shizune. The news was bad, very bad indeed.

"What is it Tsuande-sama?" Shizune asked.

"Akatsuki have attacked the Mist village and taken Yagura." Tsuande said as she grabbed her rob and a few scrolls holding within them several important things she would need.

"But that isn't all is it?" Shizune asked, seeing Tsunade's posture and expression.

"Haku was involved in the battle." Tsunade said softly.

"Is she alright?" Shizune asked, afraid of the answer.

"I don't know. It doesn't go into detail but I have a bad feeling." Tsunade said as she dropped into her seat.

Her first thought was to run to the Mist as swiftly as possible and see if she could help but she couldn't just up and leave the village under such short notice. The councils had to be called and forewarned whenever the Hokage was leaving the village and a elite group of ninja had to be formed to act as her escort. Mei had requested assistance, both for Haku was well as to discuss Akatsuki's attack on her village.

"Shizune, I want you to take a squad of ninja to the Mist village and see what you can do. Have faith that you can help Haku and I want you to take Jiraiya and Asuma with you." Tsuande ordered.

"Tsunade-sama, why not team eight?" Shizune asked as if the choice should have been obvious.

"They still need their rest and we don't know if this attack was precisely made to lure Naruto out of the village. Don't' forget that a separate group attacked the fire temple not too far from here. I've already dispatched our various groups to investigate and if need be engage them. We simply can't take the risk that all of this has been set up to capture two demon containers at once. Until I get an update from one of those teams hunting the duo that sacked the Fire temple, Naruto must remain in the village." Tsunade explained.

"But Shino-san surly he should go considering he and Haku are very close." Shizune said pointing out another plan of action.

"I'm worried about his ability to stay objective for that very reason. This needs to be done immediately and he needs rest from his last mission. I doubt he'd be able to keep up with your top speed and his slowing you down may cost precious time that Haku doesn't have. I simply don't have enough information right now and can't give an order that deals with feelings." Tsunade said as she gave a depressed sigh.

It was one of the burdens of being Hokage. She had to take every precaution possibly, regardless of what she wanted to do. She knew that team eight would be enraged at her for leaving them out of the mission but she couldn't take the risk that this was a trap for Naruto or the risk that they would fall behind due to them just coming from an emotionally and physically taxing mission. She would deal with the consequences later but for now she was under the impression that they needed to act swiftly.

"I understand Tsunade-sama. I only hope they do as well." Shizune bowed and left to gather Jiraiya and Asuma.

"As do I Shizune. As do I." Tsunade said as she looked out of the window. Thigns were getting so hectic recently. Akatsuki was finally starting to make their move and every move she made had to be precise and carefully thought out or she could cause the death of her people and her son.

**(Aburame Compound)**

Shino walked back to his compound after spending a majority of the day with Samui. He actually enjoyed spending time with the reserved beauty as it took his mind off of not knowing what had become of Haku. Just thinking about her made him want to rush to the village gates and run full speed to the Mist village. His body gave an ache at the thought but he cared little about his still healing injuries. Haku was all that mattered.

Shino stopped when he thought about that. He was completely focused on Haku. Nothing else mattered to him and it scared him a bit. He knew of the depth of emotion he held for Haku and that it was reciprocated but he realized just how vulnerable that made him. What if it turned out Haku was dead? Could he deal with that? Would he close down and be unable to function due to the hurt and pain of having his heart destroyed?

Shino didn't have the answer to these questions and he was afraid of what he would find if he did answer them. He was so ready to throw away the logical decision when he learned of Haku's possible injury or death and wanted to run off the find her, despite not knowing anything about the situation. That sort of decision would make him a liability in battle and during missions. What if he made a rash decision during a mission that caused failure of possible the death of his teammates or comrades?

Shino shook the disturbing thoughts away. He could not think like that. Those were the same things he heard whispered behind his back by the elders in his clan. They were never pleased with his courting of Haku both due to her being from another village and because of her blood limit. They saw no way that insects and ice could coexist and had expressed their displeasure at his choice.

Shino, like his father, was considered a possible maverick of the clan and those that held onto the old ways were not pleased with how the father and son were leading the clan. They preferred heirs to marry women of either high standing or those that could help further the clan's insects' abilities. They cared nothing of emotions attached to the union and actually hoped that the relationship would be nothing short of a simple business deal.

Emotions cloud logic and without logic what are we?

Shino had heard that far too many times growing up and had always dismissed it as an old and unnecessary way of thinking. They were humans not machines. Sealing away their emotions and always following logic was not the right way to live and was a big reason why they were treated and thought of the way they were in the village.

'They are wrong. There is nothing wrong with caring deeply for another.' Shino thought as he walked into his room. He couldn't stop the one last thought that went through his mind.

'But if my feelings and emotions inhibit my ability to think and act rationally are they worth the trouble and the pain I feel now?' he thought as he fell into a fitful sleep.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 15. I know I know I wanted this out a few weeks ago but stuff came up. Anyway there is a lot going on!**

**Team Gai face off against Hidan and Kakuzu.**

**Shizune, Asuma, and Jiraiya race off to aid the Mist village.**

**Haku's fate unclear.**

**Shino's feelings unclear.**

**And Naruto is still preparing to battle the Kyuubi for dominance.**

**A lot to get to but I'll have a lot of fun doing it! Will everyone make it out of this alright? Will Shino keep his faith in expressing feelings? What will happen when team eight finds out about the assault on the Mist village? **

**That is a secret!**

**Till next time Kyuubi123 out!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**(Battle Field)**

Lee and Gai were mere blurs as they assaulted Hidan. The silver haired, foul mouthed Akatsuki member angrily swung his three bladed scythe but continually hit nothing but air. By contrast Lee and Gai were finding their marks and pummeling Hidan. However the man continued to rise after each blow, no matter how devastating or debilitating.

"Stand still and die like men you cowards!" He shouted after a kick from Lee sent him flying back into a tree.

"Gai-sensei, he is very tough." Lee said as he and Gai stood together.

"Indeed. Many of our attacks would have incapacitated most other ninja. He truly is worthy of his S-class ranking. However, he is still defenseless against our speed. We will have to attack to kill and no longer try and capture him." Gai said.

Lee nodded as he grabbed his Naginata and prepared himself. He was still not as used to fighting for a prolonged time with the gates open and felt fatigue quickly developing in his body. He opened the fourth gate and sighed in relief as he felt the weariness of his body fade for a time. Gai noticed this and knew they needed to end this battle quickly before Lee was forced to open anymore of the gates. The first four would leave him extremely exhausted but alright but the fifth and above would start to damage his body and Tsunde had been very specific with them on using the gates as sparingly as possible. Still, as long as they were careful Hidan had yet to show that he could keep up with their speed.

The other battle between Tenten, Neji and Kakuzu was not going nearly as well. Kakuzu was incredibly fast and if not for Neji's Byakugan Tenten would have been dead many times over. She didn't understand it. Her aim was perfect but every time she launched an attack Kakuzu either evaded with his speed or somehow walked away without a scratch. Neji stated that his chakra system was the strangest he'd ever seen and couldn't figure out how Kakuzu was doing it.

Neji didn't know how Kakuzu was doing the things he was but it didn't matter. He was still going to protect Tenten and defeat him. However, what he wanted to do and able to do were two very different things. Kakuzu was just as fast as Gai and Lee, in short bursts. Just when he thought he had the man he would disappear and reappear a short distance away.

'We need to immobilize him. I can tell that he is hardening his skin which is the reason that Tenten-chan can't hurt him but a well placed jyukken strike will still penetrate.' He thought. He jumped back as Kakuzu's fist missed him and smashed into the ground.

"Ten-chan, now!" Neji called out. Tenten appeared and threw four demon wind shuriken.

Kakuzu made no move to dodge, as he had yet to do when Tenten attacked him and this time was surprised to see the projectiles swing away from him and swiftly wrap around him with the nearly invisible wires attached to them. Neji appeared behind him and stuck with a chakra enforced palm. Kakazu easily broke the wires. He grabbed Neji's wrist an inch before it made contact and snapped it. Neji cried out in pain as Kakuzu performed a mule kick and broke a couple of Neji's ribs.

"Pathetic." Kakuzu snorted. He suddenly felt a sensation run though his body and threw Neji away as he fell to his knees. Tenten caught her injured teammate and glared at him.

"That was an insane plan." She seethed as she used what limited medical ninjutsu to heal him. It was a very quick fix and didn't fully fix his wrist or ribs but it did help some.

"It was the only way to land a solid hit on him." Neji argued as he tried to get his breathing down to normal. His chest and wrist hurt badly but at least he had accomplished his goal. When Kakuzu grabbed his wrist he sent a jyuuken strike through his wrist into Kakuzu's body. It was a very difficult technique to perform as he had to concentrate to get it to the enemy's heart instead of his hand and arm.

"Impressive." Both of the leaf ninja looked up to see Kakuzu back on his feet perfectly okay.

"That's not possible! That attack should have killed you!" Tenten shouted.

"It did." Neji said as he got to his feet with Tenten's help.

"I don't know how but the heart in his chest is dead yet he's still alive." Neji growled.

"It's been a long time since someone was able to kill one of my hearts. My congratulations." Kakuzu said as he held out his hand. Neji and Tenten turned slightly green in the face as they said a mass of flesh appear in his hand as he threw it away.

'Did he just throw away his own heart?!' Tenten thought dumbfounded.

"That explains it. He has more than one heart!" Neji said as he finally stood on his own power.

"He what?!" Tenten replied in disbelief.

"It seems my little secret has finally been discovered. I'm a bit surprised that it took a Hyuga so long to figure it out." Kakazu said.

"That's why it was so difficult to read his chakra flow. He has multiple hearts and each has its own unique chakra signature." Neji said as he focused harder and his with enhanced Byakugan began to discern even more about their opponent.

"He has four remaining hearts in his body." Neji told Tenten.

"Yes and I am in need of another, specifically one that has an earth chakra affinity. You don't fit the bill Hyuga, but you're little friend seems to be just what I'm looking for." He said as he turned his cold gaze towards Tenten.

"Lucky me." She muttered as she felt a cold chill run down her spine.

Kakuzu tore off his cloak and Tenten and Neji were shocked at his body. Kakuzu's body was covered in stitches that made him look like a puppet or rag doll that had been torn apart and sewn back together again. On his back were four masks. They ripped from his back and began to form bodies of their own. One looked like a demonic beaked biped. This one fell apart as soon as it formed itself.

"Ah yes, that was the heart I used to replace the one I threw away because of your attack Hyuga. Regardless, the remaining three should keep you occupied long enough for me to recover my new heart." Kakuzu said as he looked to Tenten.

Neji didn't have time to respond to Kakuzu's taunt as the remaining three masks formed their respective bodies and they looked quite stable. Neji's Byakugan had improved to the point over the years that he was able to tell the specific chakra affinity a person had by observing their system. If his eyes were correct then the one that had just fallen apart used a heart that had an earth affinity, hence Kakuzu comment about needing a new one with said affinity.

One mask took the shape of a demonic tiger and this had the heart with a fire affinity. The mask with a lightning affinity took the form of a deformed biped. Finally the remaining mask had a heart with the wind affinity and it took the shape of a strange four legged creature with thin wings.

"Attack." Kakuzu said calmly as the three masks sprang into action. The wind mask took to the sky and opened its mouth and shot a compressed ball of wind at Neji and Tenten.

"Move!" Neji shouted as he grabbed Tenten and replaced them both with a nearby boulder. As the ball of wind hit the earth a massive blast of air exploded from the point of impact and even with them being far from the attack Neji and Tenten was thrown back by the sheer force of the blast.

They were given no rest though as the fire mask appeared to their left and opened its mouth to unleash its attack. Surprisingly a small fireball shot at them and hit the ground in front of them. Neji's saw the danger before it could take place and grabbed Tenten. He threw her high into the air as he began to spin.

"**Kaiten!**" he shouted as he formed the dome of protective chakra. As soon as the small fireball hit the ground it erupted into a giant firestorm causing widespread devastation. All of the trees around were incinerated into ash and only Neji remained as he stopped his spin and caught Tenten.

"This is insane! There's no way that we can beat these things." Tenten said in fear.

"Too true." Kakuzu said as he looked behind them. They turned just in time to see the lightning mask opening its mouth and shooting out lightning in the shape of a spear. The attack was so fast that they had little time to react and Neji activated another kaiten. Thankfully, Kakuzu wanted Tenten alive, for now, so the attack bypassed her and slammed into the protective shell of chakra.

Tenten was pretty sure that she couldn't have been surprised by anything else she would witness this day but once again she found her eyes widening in disbelief as the lighting blast began to push back Neji's ultimate defense and seemed to slowly but surely penetrate the chakra dome. Neji realized this as well and made a desperate gambit. He dropped his kaiten and unleashed a quick attack.

"**Eight trigrams: Vacuum Palm!**" Neji called out as he thrust his open palm at the lightning mask. The compressed burst of chakra hit the creature in the chest. The blast tore a hole in the center of the beast. Unfortunately it quickly regenerated and shot another blast of lightning. The spear shaped blast was strong enough to pierce through solid rock and continued towards the two ninja. Tenten threw kunai with explosive notes at the attack and she and Neji retreated to the forest using the resulting explosion as a cover.

"I'm too old for hide and seek. How annoying." Kakuzu muttered as he and his three monsters took t the trees.

Meanwhile Gai and Lee were still trying to defeat the stubbornly tough ninja. They had hit him with truly crippling attacks yet he shrugged them off like they were light taps. Gai was getting concerned for his student. Lee had been using the gates for longer than he was comfortable with. Gai was fine and could keep going for much longer.

"Lee we need to end this now." Gai called out to Lee. Rock Lee was sweating badly and he could feel his muscles and body beginning to scream with pain and fatigue.

"Hai Gai-sensei." Lee said as he active the fifth gate and ignored the pain in favor for the power that he now used to attack.

Hidan was used to fighting Kakuzu and the elder ninja was great at taijutsu and was extremely fast. Thus he'd learned how to defend himself against an opponent that was faster then he and had been using said tactic to keep Gai and Lee at bay. They still connected with many of their attacks but none of them were the kind that could slow Hidan down.

Lee was suddenly in front of Hidan and landed a crushing kick to the silver haired ninja's chest, he could feel Hidan's ribs snapping like twigs but the missing ninja seemed to ignore the pain and spat blood directly into Lee's eyes. Lee was completely caught off guard and paid for this with a blow to the face. Hidan followed up with a strike from his scythe when Gai kicked the bladed weapon away from his student. Hidan ducked under Gai's follow up attack and pulled his cable that connected to the bottom of his weapon, pulling it back to him. That Lee, who was getting back to his feet, was in the path of the scythe was an added bonus.

"Lee get down!" Gai said as he tackled the chunin to the ground. He grit his teeth as he felt one of the blades on the scythe cut into his back.

"Finally!" Hidan said with a wicked smile as he brought his scythe back to him and slowly licked the blood off of one of the tips.

"It's time for some fun." Hidan said to himself softly as he began to go through hand signs. He also began to softly chant something that Gai couldn't make out. He got up and pulled Lee with him. He turned when he heard the desperate attacks that Neji and Tenten were mounting to stop Kakuzu.

"Lee we must aid Tenten and Neji." Gai said.

"Hai Gai-sensei but we cannot let leave our opponent here alone. I am sure that he is up to no good." Lee said.

"Agreed. However, he has lowered his guard and we must strike now!" Gai said as he and Lee moved to the chanting shinobi.

Surprisingly, Hidan made no move to defend himself. His skin then turned black with white markings which made him look like a skeleton, a symbol of absolute death. They disregarded this as Lee pierced his chest with his naginata and Gai quickly got behind the silver haired villain and snapped his neck. Hidan's body fell to the ground and both Lee and Gai were relieved, but confused as to the ending of their battle. They shook off their confusion and moved to aid Neji and Tenten. Neither saw Hidan's hand twitch.

Neji and Tenten hid behind a large boulder surrounded by shrubbery. Tenten was trying to use what little medical ninjutsu to heal Neji's shoulder. He had been a bit too slow avoiding one of the unrelenting monsters that Kakuzu had sent after them. The lightning mask had caught him in the shoulder with one of its blasts and the attack had went clean through making his left arm useless.

"Hold still Neji-kun." Tenten said as he tried to flinch away from her hands. Neji allowed her to try and slow the bleeding as he focused with his Byakugan. Kakuzu and his mask beasts were unlike anything he'd ever faced before. None of his attacks seemed to cause any damage and he was running low on chakra. Tenten wasn't equipped to battle opponents like this and found herself avoiding capture more so than death, though she was well aware that Kakuzu would rip her heart out and use it as his own if he got a hold of her.

Neji was forced to deactivate his Byakugan due to being fairly low on chakra. However this could not have been a worst time for such a thing to happen. Without it they were blind to the movements of Kakuzu and his masks. This quickly became apparent when the boulder they were hiding behind began to crack. They jumped back just as Kakuzu's hand broke through the boulder as if it were paper.

Before they could recover the wind beast flew overhead and sent a burst of wind down on them. Neji and Tenten were blown away like rag dolls from the high pressured air and sent spiraling through the forest.

Neji staggered to his feet and immediately activated his byakugan and avoided a blast of lightning from the hulking lightning mask beast. He ducked swiftly and avoided getting his head taken off by a swipe from the fire beast that was behind him. He quickly performed a kaiten to make space and used his eyes to find Tenten.

'If these monsters are after me the Tenten is being hunted by Kakuzu.' He thought as he found her and his blood ran cold as he saw that Kakuzu had her cornered.

Tenten was still trying to shake the cobwebs out of her head from that previous attack. She looked up and her heart stopped as she saw Kakuzu calmed walking up to her. She looked around but didn't see Neji. Knowing that she was on her own at the moment she prepared herself to battle an opponent that she knew she had little chance of beating.

"**Earth style: Stone prison!**" She called as she placed her hands on the ground. Kakuzu stood as a large dome of solid rock rose from the ground to surround him.

"**Earth style: Stalagmite jutsu!**" Tenten called out as she ran a placed her hands on the stone dome. Though she couldn't see it she knew that inside of the dome dozens of sharp spikes of stone were shooting from the surrounding earth and piercing anything within. It was a combo jutsu that she had been working at as her father and Neji helped her to broaden her capabilities so she didn't become too reliant on her weapons.

That being said she knew full well that Kakuzu was alive and jumped in the air as soon as the dome began to crack. She summoned her scrolls and began to rain down dozens of kunai that had rolls and rolls of explosive notes attached on them. The resulting explosion shook the area and as Tenten landed she turned to find Neji. 

Before she could even take a single step long black tendrils shot from the smoke and wrapped around her body. Completely immobilized, Tenten was hoisted into the air and slammed down to the ground right in front of the still uninjured Kakuzu.

"Not bad girl. However you are a few decades too young to truly challenge me." He stated as his soulless green eyes glinted with wicked amusement. The tendrils currently trapping her were coming from his arm and a few more were hovering right above her chest, ready t rip her heart out and add it to his collection.

"Tenten!" Neji called out as he raced to her. He was cut off by the fire and lightning masks as they appeared before him, already reading their attacks. Neji, too focused on his captured girlfriend, had been caught flat footed and was unable to even begin his Kaiten before the combined lightning and fire attacks converged on him.

"One down and one to go." Kakuzu said as he watched his beast's handy work. The tendrils shot into Tenten chest, causing her to scream in pain as he felt them begin to curl around her heart.

She was saved as the invading objects were cut and Kakuzu was sent flying back from a powerful kick. Tenten was barely able to lift her head and see Gai standing above her with a kunai.

"Gai-sensei?" Tenten coughed as her teacher knelt by her side and slowly lifted her to a sitting position. Kakuzu was careful not to damage her heart and the puncture wounds while deep, didn't hit anything vital, though she was most likely out of commission for the rest of the battle.

"Tenten heal yourself as best you can." Gai said as he never took his eyes off of Kakuzu.

"What about Neji-kun?" Tenten asked as she looked to where Neji had been attacked.

"I have him Tenten." Lee said as he appeared at her side with Neji being held over his shoulder. He put the injured but alive shinobi down beside her and she let out a breath of relief that he was still alive.

"Lee we will attack together and overwhelm him and his beasts. They may be powerful but they are not fast enough to keep up with us." Gai said as Kakuzu began to get up.

"Understood. I will not fail you Gai-sensei. Lee said as he fell into a battle stance with his naginata behind him. Gai spared a quick look to Lee and could tell that his student was tired from using the gates earlier, even if he was trying not to show it. Gai was at least thankful that they had defeated Hidan but something didn't feel right.

He had no more time to think as the fire and wind masks attacked him. They unleashed a combined assault and the enhanced wind super charged the fire attack and team Gai found themselves staring down a tidal wave of flames. Gai grabbed Neji as Lee did Tenten and they evaded the attack by leaving the burning forest all together.

"Tenten take Neji and find someplace to hide until our reinforcements arrive." Gai said. Neji had awoken by this point and was able to stand though his chakra levels were low enough that he was feeling light headed.

"No we can still fight." Neji said as Tenten placed one of his arms over her shoulder to support him.

"I'm afraid that this is order. I cannot allow you to continue this battle it will only mean your deaths." Gai said as Kakuzu casually walked out of the inferno that used to be a heavy dense forest. His three masks were trailing behind him.

"Interesting. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you leaf ninja would leave one opponent to save your comrades." Kakuzu stated.

'What is he talking about? We killed his partner.' Lee thought.

"I see you are confused boy. One of our associates commonly refers to Hidan and I as the Zombie Combo as we cannot die. We are essentially immortal." Kakuzu said.

"Immortals? We'll put that name to the test." Gai said as he prepared to attack. Gai cried out in pain and fell to one knee. He grabbed his left thigh which felt like it had been pierced with a blade. However he had not been hit so he was quite confused.

"Gai-sensei what is wrong?" Lee said as he approached his sensei.

"Ah the pain feels so good!"

Tenten, Lee and Neji turned to stare in shock at the figure a few meters behind them. Lee especially couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hidan was standing perfectly fine and had a large spike driven through his leg.

"I-Impossible. Gai-sensei and I killed you." Lee said.

"Foolish brat I can't be killed. Certainly not at the hands of someone like you and your horribly dressed sensei." Hidan said with a smirk. His body was still the white on black coloring that made him look like a skeleton and he stood in a strange circle drawn on the ground.

"Well then I think it's time to continue on with the ritual." Hidan said as he pulled out the spike in his leg and brought in down into his forearm. Gai once again cried out in pain, this time clutching his suddenly bleeding arm.

"What's going on?!" Tenten said, utterly confused.

"Somehow whatever injury that he causes to himself gets transferred to Gai-sensei's body." Neji deduced.

"That's right. You picked that up pretty fast. If you weren't about to die here you might have created a pretty large bounty for yourself like you sensei here." Kakuzu said as he held his arms out. Immediately his hands shot off out his body, connected by the strange black tendrils that seemed to hold him together, and clutched the necks of Tenten and Neji. Before Lee could react the two were pulled towards Kakuzu.

"It's time to end this." Kakuzu stated.

"Let them go!" Gai shouted as he struggled to his feet and raced to Kakuzu and his captured team.

"Not s fast." Hidan said as he impaled his right leg with the spike. Gai faltered midway to Kakuzu from the injury and fell to the ground. Lee moved to help his sensei before Hidan stopped him.

"You take a step and the next strike goes through his heart brat." Hidan said as he pulled out the spike and held the wickedly sharp point to his chest.

"Time to claim what is mine." Kakuzu said as black tendrils came from his arm and prepared to rip Tenten's heart out. Neji was far too weakened and tired to even break out of the hold that Kakuzu had him in and the ever tightening grip was depriving him of oxygen and he felt himself losing consciousness.

'I failed.' He thought as he vision began to turn black.

"**Gatsuga!**"

Kakuzu was hit from behind by a large cyclone and released both Tenten and Neji.

"What's going on?!" Hidan shouted as long metal chains wrapped around his body, immobilizing him and keep him from injuring both himself and Gai any further.

"It's about time we showed up. You're in pretty rough shape Gai."

Gai and Lee looked to see several shadows appear from the forest. Tsume Inuzuka appeared along with Kiba, Hana, and surprisingly the former sound ninja Karin. The eccentric red haired scientist had joined the leaf village after Orochimaru's final assault and was now a chunin of the Hidden Leaf. With both her village and comrades dead she happily divulged any and all information she had and was placed under probation by Tsunde until it was believed that she held no further threat to the village.

"Tsume-san. It is very good to see you." Gai said as he painfully got to his feet.

"Tsume of the Inuzuka clan. You have quite the bounty on your head as well." Kakuzu said as turned to look at the woman that had hit him in the back. He slowly got up only to be surrounded by the before mentioned jonin and her children. Karin was with the injured Tenten and Neji and was using her medical jutsu to help them.

"Give it up. Neither you nor your partner are going anywhere." Tsume said with a snarl.

"Beauty but little brains." Kakuzu retorted as the fire masked beast appeared behind Tsume and prepared it attack. It was suddenly taken down by the combined effort of Akamaru, who had grown so large over the years that Kiba could actually ride on his back, Kuromaru, and Hana's Haimaru triplets.

However the wind masked beast appeared above them and unleashed it attack directly over Kakuzu. The resulting backlash of wind forced the leaf ninja to scatter as Kakuzu walked towards the bound, and irate Hidan.

"He's not going anywhere!" Tsume said as she appeared in front of Kakuzu with Kuromaru at her side. Kakuzu's wind beat hovered overhead and dove down to attack Tsume.

"**Gatsuga!**" Kiba and Akamaru slammed into the beat and drove it into the surrounding trees, freeing up his mother and partner to assault Kakuzu.

"Karin take Tenten and Neji away from here and continue to treat them as best you can." Hana said never taking her eyes off of the fire and lighting beasts that had appeared before the rest of the leaf ninja.

"Got it." Karin said as she and helped Tenten and Neji limp to a safer location. The Lighting mask moved to stop them when Lee slammed into it from the side clearing the way for the crimson haired medic.

"What about the other one?" Lee said as he turned to look at the still immobilized and violently thrashing Hidan.

"Those are chakra enforced chains. Without understanding exactly how he is transferring his injures to Gai we have to keep him restrained and can't risk attacking him ourselves." Hana explained.

They had no more time to talk as the fire and lighting masks unleashed their respective attacks and went for the konoha shinobi. Lee and Gai moved together as Hana and her ninja hounds did the same. The lighting mask followed Hana while the fire mask continued its assault on Lee and Gai.

"Gai-sensei how are your injuries?" Lee said as he avoided a strike from one of the beast's arms.

"I will be slightly slowed but my flames have not been dimmed in the slightest!" Gai said as he grabbed the beast by the arm while Lee sliced it off with his naginata. The fire mask opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of flames at them forcing them to retreat as it regenerated its arm.

Meanwhile Tsume and Kakuzu were trading blows as Kuromaru looked for an opening to help his partner.

"Stay still!" Tsume growled out and shred tried to shred Kakuzu with his claws. Kakuzu stopped moving and allowed Tsume to strike him in the chest. She smiled until she noticed that there was no penetration. He grabbed her arm and broke it in one move. Tsume was forced to her knees in pain as Kakuzu refused to release the limb he had broken.

"You also have an earth affinity. Your heart will do nicely. Then your head will bring me quite the bounty." Kakuzu said. Kuromaru moved quickly and clamped his crushing mouth onto Kakuzu's arm, forcing him to release her. Tsume back flipped away as she saw the dark tendrils moving under his skin.

'Felt like I was trying to rip through a rock. He's using those things under his skin to block my attacks making it will be difficult to break through.' She thought as she got to her feet. Even with a broken arm the leader of the Inuzuka clan cared little about anything except the defeat of her enemy.

"Let's go Kuromaru. **Inuzuka style secret art: Canine Symbiosis!**" Tsume called out. Kuromaru was surrounded by chakra until he disappeared and the chakra began to swirl around Tsume. She fell to her knees as her arm was swiftly healed and her transformation began. Her cloths began to rip from the added muscle, black fur began to form on her body, your nails turned into metal rending claws, her hair grew longer and wilder until it fell to her ankles, her face took a more canine like appearance and her mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. The howl she let loose shook the ground and caused the other fights around her to pause for a moment as the combatants looked to the new figure.

Kakuzu didn't show it but he was slightly impressed. A moment later he was flying back from a powerful kick to the chest. Kakuzu began to up his speed and the two tore into another with furious and crushing blows.

**(Kiba)**

Further in the trees, that hadn't been burnt to cinders by the mask beasts, Kiba and Akamaru were trying to figure out how to attack the wind beast that seemed content with attacking from the air and leaving no openings to counter.

Kiba hadn't changed much in the three years since Orochimaru's invasion. He was taller and had added more muscle but other than that the only change was that he now wore a leather jacket over a chain mail shirt with leather pants. His trusty companion Akamaru stood as tall as his waist and he silently cursed the opponent he was faced with.

'Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to fight one of these things alone.' He thought as he and Akamaru dashed from behind the tree that was soon hit with an air bullet that turned it into splinters.

"**Gatsuga**!" Kiba said as he and Akamaru spun themselves into small tornados and fly towards the beast. However unlike the first time, where they had caught it by surprise, the beast had its entire attention on the two of them and dodged their attack. This left Kiba and Akamaru in mid air with no way to avoid the follow up attack that sent Kiba and Akamaru slamming into the ground.

"Enough of this." Kiba growled and he began to sign. He had to keep this thing away from his mother and sister. They both had their own battles to deal with and he wouldn't fail and let them be caught between more than one of these things.

"**Double headed wolf!**" Kiba said as he and Akamaru disappeared in a flash of smoke. When the smoke cleared where there was once a human and a large dog was a huge two headed white wolf. The snarling beast leapt towards its opponent and shrugged off the wind mask's attack. The wolf caught the masked beasts between its two jaws and violently ripped it in two. The wolf spat the pieces to the ground and turned its head up to take a sniff. It could detect the scents of his family and comrades as well as those of its opponents. The wolf turned to aid his sister when it heard the pieces of the beast begin to move.

Before the giant canine could stop it the wind mask combined the two pieces of its body and took to the air again. The wolf gave an angered growl at this and charged for his prey. The beast stopped and turned to the approaching wolf and opened its mouth to attack. It shot a small ball of air to the ground in front of the wolf, whom continued forward without pausing in the least. The ball of air expanded into a twister that shot from under the wolf and sent it hurtling high into the air. The combined konoha team slammed into the ground and turned back into Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba coughed up blood from the impact and looked up to see the beast hovering above them and opening its mouth to send another burst of wind at them.

'This sucks.' He thought as he could only look on as the ball of compressed wind came at them.

**(Hana)**

Hana and her ninja dogs were also running into trouble with the lighting mask beast. The monster was larger than them all and seemed content to stay back and shoot long ranged burst of lighting at them.

"Enough of this. **Fang rotating Fang!**" Hana called out as she and her three partners rushed towards the beast. They began to roll at ferocious speed in a buzz saw like shape at their opponent. The beast jumped back and shot out a long blast of lighting that hit and took down two of Hana's canines.

However, Hana and her remaining dog slammed into the monstrosity and tore into it. They stopped spinning and rushed to their downed comrades. After seeing the beast regenerate and getting all three of her dogs together and smirk appeared on her face.

"So I guess they only way to keep you down is to tear you into pieces." Hana said as the beast opened it mouth and gathered a large amount of lighting to it and sent the dense beam of energy at them. Hana and her hounds easily evaded the attack and Hana signed one of her strongest attacks.

"**Inuzuka style: Cerberus transformation!**" She called out as she sent a great deal of her chakra into her three ninja dogs. They were surrounded by the chakra and began to morph together. Once the technique was over a large three headed dog was standing beside Hana.

"Sic em." Hana said with a smirk as the dog roared and went after its prey.

"It seems you need an opponent."

Hana turned and was shocked to see an unbound Hidan in front of her. She quickly looked to the chains that had bound him and saw them laying on the ground in pieces.

"That last attack wasn't an attack at all it was meant to free you." Hana muttered as she remembered the large blast of lighting that she and her dogs had avoided moments ago.

"Got it in one. You're not as dumb as you look. However you did interrupt the ritual to jashin-sama so I'll have to kill you quickly for that transgression." Hidan said off handedly as he sung his scythe at Hana. She back flipped at the last moment but her chunin jacket got caught and was slicing through like butter.

She heard a pained whimper and the large three headed dog rolled to her feet and transformed back into her three companions. By the look of the wounds on them they wouldn't be able to help her any longer. This left her completely vulnerable as the lighting beast began to move towards her from behind.

"Time to put you down little doggie." Hidan said as he licked his scythe. He swung down but his blade was stopped by Gai. The spandex wearing jonin had seen Hana's predicament and stepped in to save her. He deflected Hidan's scythe and left a deep wound on Hidan chest with his kunai before landing a crushing blow to the torso of the skeletal looking missing ninja.

"**I owe you pain**." Gai snarled in a low tone that was so different from his regular jovial self.

"My thanks Gai. However how did you know that you wouldn't be injured along with him?" Hana asked as she stood over her dogs facing the lighting beast.

"I didn't. However if it was to save a fellow comrade I would gladly have taken the pain." Gai said as Hidan got to his feet.

"Still the fact that whatever he did to me seems to have worn off but his appearance hasn't returned to normal must mean something. There is more to his trick then we understand." Gai muttered.

"You can still move that fast with those injures? You're going to be my best sacrifice to Lord Jashin yet." Hidan said as he got up and showed no pain at the deep gash in his stomach.

**(Tsume)**

The newly transformed head of the Inuzuka clan was battling it out with Kakuzu. Bonding with her canine partner increased her speed, strength, and senses. Kakuzu for the first time in a long time was on the defensive, exactly where Tsume wanted him.

Kakuzu ducked under a slash from the wicked sharp claws of the woman before him and shot out small black tendrils towards her chest. Tsume side stepped and grabbed onto the small thin tendrils. She pulled Kakuzu toward her and slammed her fist into his face, slamming him into the ground. Tsume leapt to the air and came down, smashing both of her feet into Kakuzu. Had he been a regular shinobi that attack might have caved his chest it. She quickly moved as Kakuzu tried to stab her with a burst of tendrils from his chest.

"That's not going to work!" Tsume snarled as she raced to Kakuzu as he staggered to his feet. She connected with a knee to her sternum and followed up with a vicious uppercut launching into the air. She jumped and grabbed him by his feet and spun before throwing him back to the ground, creating a larger crater and dust storm.

As Tsume landed in front of the hole she had made she could feel her chakra beginning to deplete. They had run hard and fast to catch up with Gai and neither she nor her children were in top condition. Added to that, her transformation burned through her reserves at a very fast rate. She needed to end this, fast. She turned as she saw a large column of wind in the direction that Kiba had driven the beast that had attacked her earlier.

"You let your guard down."

Tsume turned only to be met with a fist that felt like it was wrapped in steel. She was sent sprawling onto the ground but Kakuzu was not going to allow her to recover. Tsume got up only to feel something pierce through her shoulder. She growled in pain as she was yanked from her feet towards Kakuzu.

'Time to collect my heart.' Kakuzu thought as he sent tendrils through her other shoulder and through both of her thighs. He pulled the injured woman towards him and brought his left arm up to prepare to extract the blood circulating organ that would give him an extra to recreate his earth mask.

Kakuzu sent tendrils into her chest and with a smirk watched listened to Tsume's pain filled cries. The last thing Kakuzu expected was for Tsume to use her left arm to cut through her bounds and grab the ones in her chest, she pulled Kakuzu to her with all of her strength and as the surprised missing ninja came in range Tsume used the last of her strength to slam her right hand through Kakuzu's chest.

"I-Impossible." Kakuzu spat out as Tsume pulled her hand out and held Kakuzu's heart in her hand.

"Looks like your heart is mine." Tsume growled as she made sure the downed ninja watched as she crushed the organ. Kakuzu fell motionless as Tsume walked back in pain. She pulled the remaining tendrils from her chest and coughed up blood. Thankfully the only real damage was that one had gone through her lung. She staggered away from Kakuzu and turned to see Hana and Gai fighting Hidan and the lightning mask. She limped towards them before the lightning mask suddenly disappeared.

'Where did that thing go?' Tsume thought.

There was a crack of lightning and Tsume numbly looked down as a gaping wound from the lightning bolt that had shot through her lower abdomen began to bleed profusely.

"W-What?" Tsume muttered as she fell to her knees. Her transformation dispersed and Kuromaru appeared beside her exhausted and equally as injured. With a yelp he fell to his side, unable to help his mistress.

"It's been a long time since I've lost tow hearts in one battle. You leaf ninja are just as troublesome know as you have been for decades." Kakuzu said as he got to his feet. Tsume turned to stare at him and was shocked to see in the middle of his chest the lighting mask that had shot her.

'He called that mask back to reanimate his body." Tsume thought as she fell forward, her hand trying to stem the flow of blood existing her body.

"I didn't kill you outright. I need that heart after all." He said as he stood over her and thrust his arm down to her chest. He was hit by a spinning tornado and thrown away from Tsume. Hana stood over her mother panting in equal parts of exhaustion and fear of almost losing her mother.

"Kaa-san hold on." Hana said as he lifted Tsume up and held Kuromaru under her arm. They began to slowly back away from the arising Kakuzu.

"I'm not going to die from such a small wound like this." Tsume said gruffly. Despite her statement Hana realized that Tsume was leaning more and more onto her for support.

'This is not good.' Hana thought as Kakuzu got to his feet and set his cold green eyes on her.

"You won't get away." Kakuzu growled as he shot his arm at Hana.

Kakuzu's arm was knocked off target by a palm thrust from a revitalized Neji Hyuga. Kakuzu didn't have time to wonder how he had recovered so quickly before he felt several kunai strike his chest and arms. The attached explosive notes went off and Kakuzu was consumed by an explosion.

Hana smirked at the appearance of Neji and Tenten. Both were still standing shakily and obviously injured but it was an improvement over how they were a few minutes before.

"Tsume-san hold on."

Hana turned to look at the crimson haired medic that had been the cause for Neji and Tenten coming back so quickly. Karin was a very unique medic through various means that Hana really didn't want to think about considering Karin was a key member in Orochimaru's experimentation division. Her skills were almost on par with Sakura Haruno's.

As Karin began to try and stem the flow of blood from Tsume and Kuromaru's wounds Hana took an evaluation on their situation. Hidan and the fire mask were slowly pushing back Gai and Lee towards them and Kakuzu had gotten to his feet and was staring off with Neji and Tenten to her back.

'Where is Kiba?' Hana thought slightly concerned for her younger brother.

She got her answer when in a rush of air Kiba and Akamaru came tumbling in front of her. They both had numerous cuts on their bodies and while they weren't bleeding heavily it wouldn't be long before blood loss became an issue.

"That thing is unreal." Kiba snarled as he got to one knee and looked up to the wind mask that had appeared from the forest.

'So now we're boxed in.' Hana thought grimly as they had enemies on three sides and the still burning portion of the forest behind them.

"I grow tired of this. It has been a long time since I lost two hearts in a battle and I have no more patience to try and acquire theirs. Hidan finish up your stupid ritual and kill Maito Gai. We'll take his body and that of Tsume Inuzuka to the next bounty station." Kakuzu stated.

"Don't tell me what to do old man." Hidan said even as he turned to walk back to the circle that he had drawn on the ground earlier. Knowing what would happen should he reach his goal both Lee and Gai jumped to stop him. They were cut off when the fire and wind masks combined attacks to raise a wall of flames between them and Hidan.

"You should worry about me." Kakuzu said as the two masks flew back towards Hidan and combined with his body.

Kakuzu's body seemed to explode as thousands upon thousands of black tendrils burst from his joints and mouth. He began to grow in size as he body truly resembled a rag doll held together by pitch black long strings. Beside his head the two masks f the fire and wind beasts appeared.

"W-what are you?" Tenten asked as she observed the monster in front of her.

"I am your death." Kakuzu growled in a deep voice.

Lee and Gai, while very well aware of the threat behind them, were equally as cognizant of the fact that if Hidan reached the strange mark he made on the ground then he would once again use his jutsu to devastate Gai's body from afar.

"Let's go Lee." Gai said as they prepared to jump through the wall of flames.

"You'll go nowhere."

Before Gai and Lee could move, the giant rag doll that was Kakuzu sent a wave of tendrils at the Konoha ninja and ensnared them all. The leaf ninja all struggled but could not break the steel like threads.

"Now sit tight and watch as your comrade suffer and die while you can do nothing to stop it. Proceed Hidan." Kakuzu said. He could have wipped them out by using a combined fire and wind attack but where was the fin in that. While Hidan enjoyed physically torturing his victims Kakuzu much preferred causing them mental stress and pain and nothing affected them more then the feeling of being powerless to save those they cared about.

Gai cried out as Hidan made it back to the symbol on the ground he had drawn and immediately drove his pike through his arm.

"Gai-sensei!" Team ten shouted as they tried to break their bonds. Tenten was low on chakra and even if she wasn't she wouldn't have been able to cut through the steel like tendrils that held her.

'After training for so long am I still this useless?' She thought with despair and she was forced to listen to her teacher's anguish. Gai was a strange and eccentric man that had gotten on Tenten's nerves multiple times over the years but he had always been a caring and supportive teacher. She couldn't bear to witness his suffering a mere few feet away and be powerless to help.

Neji was desperately racking his brain trying to figure out a way to save his teacher and everyone else. He attempted to use the often noted cool, calm, and almost robotic planning that the Hyuga clan was known for. However, his concentration was repeatedly broken by the pain filled cries of his teacher. Even when Neji was at his worst and talk down to both Gai and his teammates the green clad jonin never gave up on him. After Neji's defeat at Naruto's hands and his new and humble outlook on life had come Gai welcomed his student back with open arms and bright smile.

'If only I could touch these with my hands.' Neji thought as he continued to struggle. Kakuzu had been much more careful dealing with the Hyuga this time around. His arms were held firmly to his side and his wrists bound in a way that he couldn't make contact with the tendrils holding him.

Of the three Lee was the one hurting the most. Being an orphan Gai had become a father figure to the young genin. When everyone told him he had no chance to be a ninja without the use of Ninjutsu or Genjutsu to have a teacher that supported him and was an expert in the one field that he had any talent in was a God send. Through the good and hard times Gai was a pillar of strength for him and to see his mentor fall to his knees with blood flowing from his mouth due to injuries being afflicted to him by some unknown jutsu was too much for Lee to endure. He attempted to draw upon the power of the gates but found his body was too exhausted from his earlier battles he could do nothing.

"**Gate of Life: Open**!" Everyone felt and saw the wave of chakra that exploded from Gai as he began to open the hidden lotus gates.

"**Gate of Pain: Open**!" Kakuzu became quite aware of just how difficult it was to hold Gai still as mre and more power swirled around his body.

"Hidan hurry up!" Kakuzu said sternly to his partner. Hidan was still chanting as he prepared for the final part of his ritual to his pagan god.

"**Gate of Closing: Open**!"

"**Gate of Joy: Open**!"

"**Gate of Shock: Open**!" The power that Gai was generating after opening the seventh gate was more than Kakuzu could handle. He could feel Gai ripping through his bonds and he would be free in a few moments.

"Enough of your fun Hidan. Finish it." Kakuzu shouted. He didn't know how long he could hold on and didn't want to waste anymore time.

"Fine, fine old man. I'm finished anyway." Hidan said as he held the razor sharp point of the lance to his chest, right over his heart.

"Time to say good night." Hidan cackled wickedly as he drove the weapon through his heart.

"No!" the leaf ninja shouted as they watched Gai slump in his bounds, blood flowing from his mouth. His eyes closed as the power he had been creating began to dim around him.

"Took you long enough. Time for the rest of you to join your comrade." Kakuzu said as the fire and wind masks on his body opened their mouths and began to gather the elements that they represented that would incinerate the captive ninja.

"**Gate of Death: Open**."

The soft spoken statement seemed out of place with the explosion of chakra that came from Gai. His bonds were incinerated in moments and before Kakuzu could blink the rest of the ninja had been freed and all were gone.

"W-what just happened?!" Kakuzu shouted as he looked for his prey.

A few miles away the konoha ninja were just as shocked to find themselves free from their bonds and away from the battle field.

"I know that I have a hole in my stomach and might be hallucinating but weren't we just staring death in the face?" Tsume coughed out as Karin immediately went back to healing the heavily injured woman.

The question was answered for her when they felt a truly staggering level of power wash over them. They turned and were in awe at the sight in front of them. Gai was surrounded by a flowing golden chakra. Unlike what normally occurred when he and Lee opened more than 2 of the hidden gates, his skin was not red nor were his pupil's absent from his face. Gai looked exactly as he always did. If not for the unbelievably strong power that they could all feel flowing from him, they would have assumed that nothing had changed about the man.

"Hana-san please lead everyone back to Konoha." Gai said with a small sad smile on his face.

"G-Gai-sensei you didn't." Lee said, still shell shocked at the truth that was staring him in the face but that he refused to accept.

"It was the only way to save the most precious thing in this world to me." Gai said as he focused completely on team ten.

Lee was already crying heavily, well aware that his teacher had opened the final gate of the Hidden Lotus. Tenten and Neji were both aware of this but the implications of that truth still hadn't penetrated through their conscious minds.

"I taught you to use the Lotus Gates for one and only one reason Lee, and that was the protection of the thing you love most in this world. For me that is you and my team. You are the only team that I ever had and watching you grow over the years makes me feel like you are my own children." Gai said as he addressed Lee, Tenten, and Neji. By this point Tenten and Neji, like Lee, realized that this would be their last conversation with their sensei.

"Tenten, you've been the rock that has held this team together over the years. Despite what happened with your teammates or the mission you are always calm, reliable, and steady. It is for these very characteristics that I know you will achieve everything you desire in your life. The fact that you were able to break through to Neji and gain his affections are evidence of this." Gai said. The teenage girl gave him a bright smile even as she tried to hide the tears streaming down her face.

"Neji for so long you allowed fate to control your outlook on life and the pain, hate and darkness had clouded your site to such a degree that I feared I'd never be able get through to you and would have failed you as a teacher. However, through the efforts of your friends and family you see the truth that destiny and fate are what you make of them and you have chosen wisely ever since. I couldn't be more proud of you. Continue to grow strong and help those of your clan that have no yet accepted this truth to see the error of their ways. Your father would have loved to see the man that you are today." Gai said to the most emotionally controlled of his team and saw him relinquish said control to allow the pain and sorrow he felt too come through.

Gai turned to Lee. There was so much he could say to the boy that was like a son to him. When he learned that there was an academy student that had no talent for Genjutsu or Ninjutsu yet had still passed and became a genin he knew that he had to find this child and see for himself what drove him to succeed when so many told him he would fail. He was surprised at what he found.

Lee was not at all a prodigy or genius of Taijutsu. Everything didn't come easily to him. He had to work, fight, scratch and bleed for every inch of improvement he made in the only field available for him to be a ninja. Lee never knew it but it was his determination that drove Gai to be the best teacher and ninja that he could be. Gai had devoted everything to being the role model that the young ninja needed to strengthen his self esteem as well as his skills.

It was when Lee had changed his wardrobe at Sakura's request that Gai knew the true depth of pride that a parent must feel for their child when they final step out of the parent's shadow and strive to be their own person. He remembered how Lee had stood before him when he unveiled his new outfit. The young chunin was slightly worried about Gai's reaction but was not going to back down from his decision. It was then that Gai knew that Lee was ready to be his own man and that there was nothing more to teach him.

Gai wanted to saw all of this and more to Lee but he simply gave him his patented good guy smile and thumbs up. Lee copied the stance ignoring the waterfall of tears running down his eyes.

"Lee you are a splendid ninja." Gai said as he disappeared.

Tenten immediately fell into Neji's chest and began to cry as the Hyuga heir held her comforting and drawing strength at the same time. Lee hadn't moved since Gai's statement.

Hidan and Kakuzu were still arguing with one another when Gai came upon them.

"How could you lose them?! I barely got time to complete my ceremony." Hidan shouted at Kakuzu.

"Shut your mouth Hidan. If you hadn't taken so long then I would already be collecting the huge bounties on Maito Gai and Tsume Inuzuka." Kakuzu growled back as he contemplated once again trying to kill his seemingly immortal teammate.

"Shove it old man. Whatever, they couldn't have gotten too far let's find them so I can perform another ceremony." Hidan said as he turned his back on his partner.

"You'll do no such thing."

The Akatsuki partners turned and both couldn't have been more surprised to see Gai standing before them alive and well. Kakuzu felt the great power rolling like waves off of Gai and he could even tell that it was still be suppressed somewhat. Kakuzu had been alive a long time and his survival instincts were second to none. At the moment they were screaming at him to run as fast as he could form the man in front of him and not to look back.

Hidan didn't seem to possess said instincts as he began to rant and rave at Gai.

"How are you still alive?! I made sure to pierce through every vital organ in your body before stabbing through your heart." Hidan said, never having experienced a situation like this.

"That doesn't matter. Such information is wasted on dead men!" Gai said as he unleashed the reigns that he held on the power of the eighth and final gate. The resulting explosion of power gouged a huge hole beneath Gai's feet as he disappeared from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Hidan shouted in anger before feeling a blow land in his chest that felt like it was being caved in. Hidan was sent hurtling through a number of thick tree trunks before being stopped by a large boulder.

"So fast!" Kakuzu said as he felt a presence behind him.

"I'm not just fast." Gai said.

Kakuzu turned and sent a blast of wind at the ninja behind him. Gai, however, was already gone and when Kakuzu turned around he was kicked in the face and sent flying back. Gai's movements were so fast that it appeared he teleported behind Kakuzu and punched him in the back, sending him moving in the opposite direction. Gai continued to use Kakuzu as a ping pong ball and delivered blow after crushing blow to the old and deadly missing ninja.

Kakuzu was kneeling over in pain and his rage got the better of him. Both masks opened and he sent an inferno of flames flaying in all directions, hoping and praying to hit the man whose speed he couldn't even comprehend.

When he began to run low on chakra he stopped his attack and watched as the flames continued to burn away anything around him. He felt his multiple hearts skip a beat when he saw a figure standing calmly in the flames. Maito Gai looked like a demon from the underworld bathed in flames that seemed to refuse to touch him. His expression was empty of any emotion and as he pulled one fist back and punch forward Kakuzu cursed himself for not listening to his instincts as the very force of the wind behind his punch tore a hole through Kakuzu's chest.

Gai knew that the man was not yet dead and walked towards him. He stopped when he felt a twinge of what he might at one time classified as pain where his heat was located. He turned his head and saw that Hidan, bloody and broken was once again standing on the blood symbol on the ground and had taken on the appearance of a skeleton. Hidan had a spike driven through his heart, which explained the sensation Gai had felt a moment before.

"What's with you! Why won't you die?!" Hidan shouted in a crazed frenzy as he began to stab himself over and over again, each stab striking a vital organ. Gai began to walk calmly to the man, feeling but disregarding the miniscule sensations that were a result of Hidan's actions.

Opening the eighth gate of the Hiddan Lotus had give Gai more power then he thought possible to wield. Even now Gai could feel the immense energy begging to be released. It took an extreme amount of effort and concentration on his part to keep from literally exploding should he lose his iron clad control over it. As it was the power burn brightly but consumed just as quickly. He could feel his muscles, tendons, organs and really his entire body being burned out by the energy. It was time to finish this.

Gai appeared in front of Hidan in moments and kicked him into the air. The force of the blow snapped Hidan's neck, though his head was still speaking. Gai appeared before the silver haired ninja and attacked again.

"**Morning Peacock!**" Gai shouted as he began to strike Hidan with countless punches. The speed of the punches became so great that they were set ablaze by the sheer friction and speed. It created a peacock like fan of chakra around Hidan's body.

To Hidan each punch felt like the equivalent of a megaton bomb of force being applied to his body. He didn't even have the power to scream in pain as the flaming blows were rained down on his body. Hidan began to fall to the earth but before he hit the ground Gai was standing there and with a leg glowing with power slammed his foot into Hidan's jaw, pulverizing it and once again launching Hidan into the air. This time the missing ninja didn't stop until he was out of sight. Gai prepared to follow him when he turned to see Kakuzu standing to his feet. He gave a cry of attack and sent a blast of fire, wind and lighting at Gai.

"**Daytime Tiger!**"

Gai placed a palm forward in front of his face and then tapped it with his other hand, formed into a fist. Gai then formed a unique hand seal resembling a tiger, which launched the air pressure he had built up in his palm at Kakuzu in the shape of a tiger. The air pressure condensed as it moved forward and was focused into a single point. The technique tore through Kakuzu's combined assault and upon contact with him exploded releasing all of the built up air pressure in an instant. A massive concussive explosion was created and felt miles away. When the smoked cleared both masks were destroyed and Kakuzu's lifeless body fell to the ground. One of the immortal ninja had fallen.

"Immortals. You fail my test." Gai muttered as he used his power to shoot into the air like a rocket.

Gai came upon the descending Hidan and grabbed him as he continued his climb through the sky. Once Gai made reached his highest point he held Hidan high above him and slammed a knee to his back that shattered his spine.

"Do your worst. I'll still live and you'll die. After that I'll take great pleasure in hunting down your students and torturing them!" Hidan hissed out despite his grievous injuries. Gai released the foul mouthed villain and delivered a double spin kick that sent Hidan to the ground.

Gai looked up at the sun and allowed himself a moment to enjoy its touch. Something he knew he'd never feel again. He gave a soft smile as he felt his body rapidly breaking down. It was time to truly let his flames burn brightly.

Gai used a burst of chakra to propel himself downward headfirst. He moved faster than he ever had in his life. So fast was he moving that his body began to be surrounded by an ever growing and expanding fire due to the friction that he was causing with the air. While Gai couldn't see it the flames began to entwine with the golden chakra that was coming off of his body in waves they morphed until Gai was in the middle of a giant flaming phoenix.

'My students live strong and let the flames of youth blaze your trail for the future! Believe in yourselves and always allow the Will of Fire to dwell within your heart. Farewell.' Gai thought as he saw the crater he had caused when Hidan hit the ground.

"**Ultimate technique of the Hidden Lotus: Midnight Phoenix!**" Gai shouted as the giant fire bird slammed into the ground.

After the impact Gai didn't see a mushroom cloud of dust rise high into the sky to be seen for miles and miles. He didn't hear the agonized screams of Hidan as he was incinerated and finally killed. He didn't see everything in a three mile radius completely annihilated. He didn't hear the cries of his student as they had convinced Hana to allow them to help him fight and arrived at his location.

By this point, Maito Gai of the Hidden Leaf Village was dead.

When his students came to the epicenter of a giant crater in the ground they found his body. Gai had died with his body still standing, a pillar of strength, determination, and resolve.

A fitting death for a splendid ninja.

**(End)**

**Finally! I'm deeply deeply sorry for taking so long with this chapter but a combination of writer's block and family issues came up. I'll try to do better.**

**Gai is dead but in his death he took out Hidan and Kakuzu. What are the repercussions for the Akatsuki as well as the leaf village? How will this affect team Gai? **

**That is a secret!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	17. Chapter 17

**LND 17**

**(Akatsuki Hideout)**

"Hidan and Kakuzu are dead."

The statement reverberated through the cave that the assembled members of the Akatsuki were meeting at. Silence followed as while most of the members didn't outwardly show their shock they all felt it to some degree. Hidan and Kakuzu weren't considered immortal ninja for nothing.

"So those two zombies bit the dust? That's pretty surprising. I wonder who it was that took them out." Kisame said, his shark like smirk never leaving his face.

"It was Maito Gai of the Hidden Leaf village. He killed them both within seconds of one another." Zetsu, the strange venus fly trap looking ninja who had made the statement.

"Your old village certainly produces some powerful ninja Itachi." Kisame said as he looked at his partner, who hadn't reacted to the news.

"Their deaths couldn't have come at a worse time, hn. The only demons left to collect are the two tails, the eight tails, and the nine tailes. Kumo is being extra careful with their demon containers after I shared my art with the mist village and Blaze captured Yagura, and attacking the leaf village if they have ninja with the abilities to take out both Hidan and Kakuzu is ill advised." Deidara added, completely serious for once.

"It matters not. Deidara you and Blaze will capture the nine tails. Itachi and Kisame will capture both the eight and two tails." The leader of the group stated sternly.

"Why do we have to go? Itachi is the one that could easily sneak into the Leaf village and grab the brat." Deidara said angrily.

"Do not question my orders Deidara. As it stands they have the best chance of infiltrating the Cloud village and defeating their targets. Also, you won't be invading the Leaf village. The nine tails will come to you thanks to your partner." The leader explained.

"Fine, whatever." Deidara muttered as he fell silent.

"Itachi, Kisame move out immediately." The leader said as the Akatsuki disappeared one by one.

**(Konoha)**

The sun was shining in over the Hidden Leaf village. The sky was clear, the birds were chirping, it was a beautiful day. Yet it did nothing to lift the spirits of the numerous ninja standing around a freshly made grave. Tsunade stood at the podium and gave her remarks.

"Maito Gai was a great shinobi. If ever there was one that personified the Will of Fire it was him. He cared nothing about putting himself in harm's way for another and no matter the situation he always had a cheerful attitude and bright smile. While you should feel sad at his passing also feel pride that he left his earth on his own terms. Outnumbered and dying Gai gave his life to do that which many considered impossible. He killed two of the members of the deadly organization called Akatsuki. These two were considered immortal ninja that could not be killed and yet Gai proved differently and took them both to the afterlife with him. When his students found his body it was still standing over a pile of ashes. Unwavering, unyielding, and unstoppable. That was Maito Gai the beautiful green beast of the Leaf Village." Tsunade said as she looked throughout the numerous shinobi that knew of Gai. Tenten and Neji both supported one another and while they put on a brave front their red eyes betrayed their feelings. Surprisingly Tsunade couldn't see Rock Lee.

The female Hokage had no time to ponder this significant absence as the ninja began to approach the casket and lay a flower on it. When the last person did so they lowered the casket into the grave. One by one the crowd began to disperse and go their separate ways. Tsunade saw Naruto walk over to Tenten and Neji and saw her son bow his head and mutter a few words to them. She was unsurprised to see Tenten slap him. Knowing Naruto he had tried to place the blame of Gai's death on himself.

'You've got to learn that not everything is your fault Naruto. Also there are things you just can't control.' Tsunade thought as she turned to return to her office.

"Don't you dare dishonor his sacrifice Naruto!" Tenten seethed at the teenage blond who was rubbing his cheek from the slap.

"It's my fault Tenten. If not for me then the Akatsuki would never have come and Gai-sensei wouldn't have had to die." Naruto said as he looked away. Hinata grabbed his hand to try and steady him emotionally. When he had heard what happened Naruto started to become depressed and began to blame himself for what had happened.

"Gai-sensei gave his life to protect his comrades and loved ones. He fought and died because that is what leaf ninja do for one another. It's the exact thing you would have done in the situation Naruto. If it had been you would you want someone blaming themselves for it?" Neji asked, calmly as he restrained Tenten from hitting him again.

Naruto didn't respond. He gently broke Hinata's hold of his hand and began to walk away.

"Please forgive him. He's going through a lot right now and needs to understand that this all isn't on his shoulders." Hinata explained.

"That obvious enough but I know for a fact that Gai-sensei died happy that he could give his life to protect not only us but Naruto as well. He shouldn't blame himself for what happened." Tenten said as she calmed down, slightly.

"Agreed. I know that he will come to realize this soon enough. Where is Lee? I didn't see him here." Hinata asked, greatly confused and concerned that the young man that Gai looked to as a son was not in attendance.

"We don't know." Neji seethed in anger as he and Tenten turned to leave. Tenten gave Hinata a sad smile and a nod farewell as they left. Hinata sighed as she turned to try and find Naruto. When he was this upset he normally trained his body to the breaking point and with the seal so fragile it wasn't wise for him to allow his emotions to run free.

Kurenai finished speaking with Iruka and Anko and walked to her husband that was standing in front of the memorial stone. A new name now adorned the rock and it was this that held Kakashi's attention. Kurenai walked beside him and silently waited for him to speak. Trying to force anything out of him when he was upset was all but impossible.

"Why?"

Kurenai still didn't look at Kakashi. She knew he would elaborate once he had gathered his thoughts.

"More and more of those I care for die yet I still live. Why is that?" the silver haired jonin asked. It being a rhetorical question Kurenai didn't answer she grabbed his hand and stood beside him silently asking him to not shut her out and to allow her to share his pain.

"Death will come for all of us eventually. The main question is how we will face it. Gai stared it in the face and smiled." Kurenai stated. She watched as Kakashi moved closer to the stone and pulled out a kunai. She was alarmed when he began to carve something in the rock. The monument was never to be touched except for those that inscribed the names of the fallen. Should anyone be caught doing what Kakashi was they would be punished, severely.

Kakashi finished whatever it was he was doing he turned and began to walk back to their home. Kurenai walked up t the stone and saw the numbers 50-49 under Gai's name. A small smile appeared on her face as she understood the meaning. Kakashi was acknowledging that Gai had one upped Kakashi in death and finally defeated his "youthful" rival. She turned to catch up with her husband.

**(Training ground)**

Sakura, still wearing her funeral attire, walked calmly through the training ground. She bypassed the hundreds of destroyed practice dummies, training logs, trees and other such tools used for training. The ground looked like a bomb had hit it, which wasn't far from the truth. With a singular goal in mind she neared the cause of the destruction.

"If I cannot do ten thousand kicks I will do twenty thousand punches."

Sakura watched as Rock Lee continually pounded a large thick tree that looked only a few blows away from collapsing. The medic in her analyzed him. It was clear that he had neither eaten nor rested for several days. The quick glimpses she saw of his fists showed that had beaten them almost to the bone and more than likely had broken a few of those as well.

"That's enough Lee-kun." Sakura said. She had given Lee his space to grieve the days following team Gai's return to the village with the body of their mentor.

The loss of Gai hurt her deeply as well. Over the last few years that she and Lee had gotten closer Gai had become something of a father to her, seeing as her own father had died when she was very young. It had hurt that Lee shut her out and disappeared to deal with it on his own but her own training had assured her that such things were normal for a grieving person. Still that did not excuse him not attending the funeral.

"Please leave Sakura-chan. I must continue training and can have no distractions." Lee responded, without ever turning to look at her.

Sakura's well known anger surfaced and she was a few seconds from knocking him out and tying him to a bed to get him to listen to her and confront his grief. Avoidance did nothing but compound the problem and hindered recovery. However she quickly reigned in her anger knowing it would get her nowhere.

"You weren't at the funeral." Sakura said, the statement coming across as an accusation.

"I had no time to attend. It would have interrupted my training." Lee said mechanically.

'That sounded like something he has been telling himself hundreds of time.' Sakura thought. With a sigh she decided that talking would only get her stonewalled and thus decided to take action.

Lee hadn't heard anything from Sakura so he believed she was preparing to leave before he felt two very strong arms wrap around him from behind.

"Sakura-chan please let me go." Lee said. The walls around his heart that he had erected after Gai's death were beginning to crack. He needed to get away from her warmth and the feelings she was bringing forth as soon as possible. However, his legs refused to move.

Lee continued to request for Sakura to release him until they came out softer and he finally stopped. Sakura brought him to the ground in a kneeling position as she laid her head against his back. She could feel the trembling in his body and knew it had nothing to do with exhaustion.

"I'll never let you go Lee-kun. You're not alone." She whispered to him.

"I failed him Sakura-chan. He died protecting me because I wasn't strong enough. What if I fail again? What if the next person to die because of my weakness is you?" Lee said as he turned to look at her. Sakura's heart nearly broke from the empty look in his eyes. For as long as she knew him Rock Lee had a hidden fire that rivaled even Naruto's determination. To see that fire nearly snuffed out was almost too much for her.

"Gai-sensei died protecting those that he loved. There could be no better death for him and you know that Lee. If you want to be stronger then do what you've always done. No matter what is said or what happens strive to be best that you can be and trust your comrades to help you." Sakura said as she brought them both to their feet and swiftly turned to punch the tree he had been practicing on. The trunk snapped like a twig under her fist and she turned to him with a smirk.

"Besides I can take care of myself." She said. Still seeing the doubt in his eyes she brought her hand to his face and made him look at her.

"I know how you feel. After that battle with that strange sound ninja all I could think about is how useless I was to you. You nearly gave your life for mine and all I could do was watch. I made a vow that I would never been weak again and force others to do my fighting for me. I believe in you Lee-kun. You always have been and always will be my greatest inspiration. That's why I know that you'll overcome this and become the ninja that Gai-sensei gave him life to ensure that you would become." She said with a smile.

Lee was quiet for a long while. His dark eyes boring into her jade ones to see if she truly believed what she had told him. Seeing no deceit he gave a small smile. It was far from his usually ones but it was progress no doubt.

"Sakura-chan will you accompany me to Gai-sensei's grave? I feel I need to say goodbye." Lee said.

"Of course Lee-kun." Sakura said, happy that she had gotten through to him. She knew that he wasn't okay yet but that he was on the long road to recovery at least. She'd take that for now and would be by his side for the rest.

**(Hokage's Tower)**

Tsunade gave a sigh of exhaustion as she sat down at her desk and took a shot of sake from her hidden stash. She needed something to calm her nerves. She'd seen more than her fair share of comrades put in the earth, when there was a body to bury at least, and it never got any easier. She was sad that Naruto and his friends had to deal with so much death and loss this early in their lives. They were only getting into their late teens and had already seen and overcome things that most ninja didn't have to deal with until much later in their careers.

She was broken from her thoughts when her door opened and Shizune walked through. Tsunade's mind immediately went into that of a medic at the appearance of her apprentice. Shizune had just gotten back from the Mist village to see about Haku and to have Jiraiya gain as much info on the Akatsuki attack as he could.

"Shizune what do you have to report?" Tsunade asked wasting no time.

"We made it to and from the Mist village without any problems. However the village itself was under lock down when we arrived. It seems the Akatsuki members that attacked not only escaped with Yagura but blew up the jail that he was in. a few of the surviving inmates had been causing trouble thus the stiffness in security when we got there." Shizune said as she handed Tsunade her report. As the blond Hokage leafed through it she motioned for Shizune to continue.

"Mizukage-sama took me directly to Haku-san and I took over her procedure. The Mist medic ninjas were doing their best but they desperately needed help. I was able to stabilize her and her life is out of danger." Shizune said.

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to think about having to deliver the news to Shino and the others had Haku lost her life, especially if it was at the hands of the same Akatsuki member that killed a squad of chunin a few weeks ago. Tsunade flinched as she remembered that she had yet to inform Team eight that the monster responsible for their only failed mission was most likely alive and well and working for the Akatsuki.

"Are these reports on her injuries accurate?" Tsunade said as she read the medical chart on Haku.

"You can check for yourself Tsunade-sama. We brought her back with us to the village." Shizune said much to Tsunade's surprise.

"How did you mange that? She should be in too fragile a condition to be moved." Tsunade said.

"Jiraiya-sama and his toads." Shizune said simply. She didn't fully understand how Jiraiya had done what he had but she was pretty sure Tsuande would. Indeed the sannin was well aware of how her former teammate and current significant other was able to transport people with his summons from one location to another. However she'd never seen him do so with an injured person before.

"I'll go and see her for myself then. Shizune I need you to inform team eight about the situation." Tsuande said as she swiftly left.

'Once again she leaves the hard stuff for me to handle.' Shizune grumbled.

**(Hospital)**

Team eight rushed into the hospital together frantically searching for anyone that could tell them where Haku was being kept. Shizune had found them all together at their training grounds and when she broke the news to them she couldn't get out another word before all three disappeared. Shino's insects were buzzing so loudly it was difficult to hear but he's mind and heart were moving too swiftly for him to notice or care.

'I knew something was wrong! I should have followed my instinct and ran to the Mist village myself to check on her.' Shino thought ignoring the logic of that idea.

"Hey where is Haku Momochi's room?!" Naruto shouted so loud that he shook the glass on the windows.

"Naruto shut your mouth this is a hospital!" Tsunade shouted just as loudly, ignoring her own command.

"Kaa-san where is Haku? Is she alright? What happened to her?" Naruto asked in rapid order.

"Naruto-kun please calm down. I'm sure Tsunade-sama will tell us what she knows." Hinata said ever the voice of reason. She was just as anxious to see her friend but knew that making a scene would only delay them.

"All of you follow me. Hinata I'm in need of your assistance." Tsunade ordered as she swiftly went down the hall.

The members of team eight looked at one another as a chill went down their spines. For Tsunade, who was still widely considered the best medic in the world, to seek assistance didn't speak well for Haku. Shino wasn't sure where he got the strength to calmly walk behind the Hokage came from but he was a just able to keep himself from yelling at his leader to hurry up. His mind was already going through many scenarios on what could have happened and they were becoming more and more bleak and frightening with every passing second.

When they finally came to Haku's room Tsunade told them in no uncertain terms that should they cause any kind of commotion she'd personally throw them out of the nearest window. This threat was moreso for Naruto then Hinata and Shino. As they walked into the room it was Shino that nearly released his entire swarm in rage.

Haku was lying in her bed hooked up to a few machines. She was covered with bandages from the neck down and the few burn marks on her face left a good indication on what those bandages were covering. Shino's swarm went silent as he walked over to her and gently stroked her cheek with his hand.

"She was burned very badly. Shizune was able to save her life but the damage was extensive." Tsunade said softly. Hinata had tears in her eyes while Naruto struggled to keep his anger under control. Shino was just as silent as his insects.

"Will she recover?" Hinata asked as Naruto placed his hands on her shoulders for support.

"Yes but as it stands her career as a ninja is mostly likely over. I've done the best I can but the volume of trauma is too high. She's lucky to still be alive. That's why I need your help Hinata. Normal medical chakra can only do so much." Tsuande said as she looked to the young woman she'd helped train over the last few years.

"You think Hinata-chan's angelic chakra might be able to fully heal her?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure about a full recovery but anything she can do will be better than this." Tsuande responded, upset that Naruto's small amount of enthusiasm was quickly extinguished.

"I'll do whatever I can!" Hinata said instantly a fire burning in her eyes, her naturally kind nature combining with the need to heal others that she had ingrained in her since she began training as a medic ninja.

"Good Naruto, Shino I need the both of you to wait outside. I'll be overseeing Hinata and helping where I can. This could get very delicate so I'm afraid you can't be here for it." Tsuande said.

While Naruto didn't like it he understood and was just happy that Hinata could help Haku, the chance that Hinata could do nothing to help their longtime friend never even entered into his mind, such was the faith he had in her. Naruto placed his hand on Shino, who had yet to move from his position of stroking Haku's cheek.

"Come on Shino. We need to let Hinata have some time so Haku can be on her feet in no time." Naruto said softly hoping to pierce whatever walls Shino had put up since learning of Haku's plight. His brother figure stood and left the room, just as silent as ever.

"Alright Hinata please do what you can." Tsunade said to the young woman that she'd taught medical ninjutsu to.

"Hai Tsunade-senpai." Hinata said as she closed her eyes and tapped into her own divine chakra. The markings on her skin began to glow as Hinata reached out and laid her hands on Haku's body.

Hinata's control over her angelic chakra was good but Tsunade wasn't kidding when she said the level of damage was great. Her body had varying degrees of burns on her and healing said wounds was a slow and delicate process. Hinata gave a mental sigh of gratitude when Tsunade laid her hands over Hinata's and helped her direct the chakra where it would do the most good.

Outside of the room Naruto watched his friend but was unable to tell what he should do or say to help Shino. Despite how long they'd known each other Shino was still very hard to read at times and right now Shino was hiding his emotions behind a steel wall.

"She'll be fine Shino. Hinata-chan and Kaa-san will have her up and about so fast you'll forget she was ever hurt." Naruto said trying to cheer up his teammate.

"Of that I have no doubt Naruto. That is not what is occupying my thoughts." Shino said in an emotionless tone.

"Then what's bothering you?" Naruto asked.

"I would like to know how she came to be in that state and who is responsible. Once Hokage-sama is finished I will get the answers I seek." Shino said in a low tone as he turned and walked away.

Naruto was left with his own thoughts and found himself as curious as Shino was. Haku was strong. Over the years she had climbed to jonin in rank and was considered one of the top mist ninja. For this to have happened to her meant she had gone up against a supremely powerful opponent.

'Could it be the Akatsuki?' Naruto thought. He turned and walked away as well. He needed to find Jiraiya and continue his training.

**(Lighting Country)**

"Itachi are we there yet?" Kisame said for the umpteenth time.

The elder Uchiha didn't respond, just as he hadn't to the last several, as they continued to travel through the Lighting country as they neared the Cloud village and their targets.

"How do we even know where the eight tails and the two tails are anyway?" Kisame asked in a whiny tone.

"Our source inside the village has been keeping very close watch over them. They are currently at the eight tails' compound fixing the damage from the last battle." Itachi said hoping to shut Kisame up.

"I would have loved to be there to see a being strong enough to throw around two of the nine tailed beasts like rag dolls." Kisame said, his blood stirring at the thought of fighting such a creature.

'Indeed. Just how powerful are those dragons that Naruto Uzumaki can summon?' Itachi thought to himself.

"I almost hope that Deidara and his partner fail to capture the brat so I'd have a shot at him again." Kisame said as they approached the area where their targets were supposed to be.

"If you don't take this mission seriously you'll not live to have your battle with the kyuubi's container." Itachi retorted.

"And if you hadn't spent all your time flirting with that ramen stand girl you could have captured the brat whenever you wanted to." Kisame shot back, loving to needle Itachi about Ayame.

Itachi stopped completely and fixed Kisame with a cold stare that actually made the blue skinned man's heart skip. Kisame quickly reminded himself just why Itachi was considered one of the most dangerous missing ninja in the world. They continued on in silence as Kisame knew better to say anything with Itachi was in his current mood and Itachi tried to settle down the warring emotions that Kisame's comment had brought up.

"We're here." Itachi said after a while. He truthfully didn't need to verbalize that they had reached the area that the eight and two tailed beasts were supposed to be. Where once there stood large insurmountable mountains now stood rubble for as far as the eye could see. The land itself was ravished with craters and large fissures where the previous battle had taken place.

"You know what maybe I don't want to meet the beast that could do all of this." Kisame said after a while. They'd both seen and battled against the tailed beasts but the sheer volume of destruction that they were witnessing hadn't been seen since the Kyuubi had been sealed.

"On your guard Kisame." Itachi said. A moment later they were surrounded by a number of cloud anbu ninja.

"Akatsuki members Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, by order of Raikage-sama you are hereby under arrest." The leader cloud ninja said sharply.

"Ha! You really think you have the numbers or the muscle to back that up?" Kisame said as he pulled Samehada from his back and the wrapping around it began to unwind.

"What matters is strength not size and they have that in spades now that Killer Bee has arrived!" Killer Bee shouted as he appeared with Yugito beside him. She quickly elbowed him in the side with an irritated look on her face.

"Would you stop with the rapping already!" She hissed at him, annoying that he wouldn't take the appearance of two of the stronger members of the rogue group out for their blood more seriously.

"Calm down you have to act like that, you should smile more and have some fun kitty cat!" Killer Bee said with a smirk.

"You knew we were coming." Itachi said, breaking up the two's squabbling.

"With the recent battle that took place here as well as the information we've received from Konoha about your patterns it wasn't hard to assume that you'd try and take advantage of what happened to get to us. We had to assume that you had a spy in our village watching us so Bee and I came out here hoping to lure you into our trap." Yugito responded with a smile that revealed her enlarged teeth.

"I see. A good strategy." Itachi said. A second later an explosion erupted around Kisame and Itachi obscuring them from view.

'An exploding clone? When did he replace himself with one?' Yugito thought to herself as the smoke cleared. When the dust had settled every one of the cloud anbu were on the ground either dead or unconscious at the feet of Itachi and Kisame.

"However, you should have chosen better ninja." Itachi finished.

"Looks like we're on our own Bee." Yugito thought as she began to tap into the two tailed cat's chakra.

"Then let's not hold back. Time to show them your claws my sweet kitty cat." Bee said as he drew his blades and he too began to channel some of his demon chakra.

**(Konoha)**

Hinata walked out of the hospital incredibly exhausted. She'd been spending hours healing Haku and had done all that she could. Still Tsunade had praised her for her abilities and Haku was in better shape because of them. The ice wielders' career as a ninja was no longer over though how long it would take her to get on her feet was anyone's guess. Hinata's power had healed a great deal of the burns covering Haku's body and except for a few that would remain as permanent scars the former Hyuga had been able to fix seventy to eighty percent of the damage to Haku's body. She was still unconscious and would be for a while longer but she was in stable condition and that was all any of them could have asked for.

'Still her burns were so extensive. She must have been caught in an explosion of some kind.' Hinata thought as she tried to figure out just what could have done that to Haku. Her friend was a jonin level ninja and was a tough opponent for anyone one on one. Hinata found it hard to believe that Haku could have been caught in a trap which meant that she faced a ninja powerful enough to do that to her.

'Could it have been the Akatsuki?' Hinata wondered to herself. She continued on her way to her apartment as she pondered this.

She walked in her apartment and went to take a quick shower before finding Naruto and seeing how his training with Jiraiya had progressed. His seal was deteriorating at a frightening rate and time was running out for him to face the demon inside of him once and for all for total dominance over its chakra. Hinata was broken out of her thoughts as she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to find an Anbu operative waiting for her.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence." He said simply before vanishing. Hinata sighed. She'd just seen Tsunade an hour or so beforehand what could she want now that she didn't mention earlier?

Tsunade waited until all three members of team eight were before her. After everything hat had taken place she wanted to give them the rest of the day and night to work through seeing Haku in such a state before revealing exactly who had caused the injuries. However, as soon as she returned to her office she had been given a message from a patrol that they saw members of Akatsuki approaching the land of fire's border. She had a feeling just who one of those members were and before they began their own plan she was going to bring Naruto and his teammates up to speed. She just hoped they forgave her for keeping this information from them for so long. She looked over to Jiraiya who was leaning back against the wall. He was there for support as well as to keep Naruto under control should be lose control of his temper.

"What's up Kaa-san? Is Haku alright? Why is Ero-sennin here?" Naruto asked, anxious over the quick turn around since they'd last met. He'd still not fully dealt with seeing one of his precious people in such a state and had to use a good deal of his self control not to allow his anger draw on Kyuubi's chakra.

"You can all calm down. Thanks to Hinata's assistance Haku's condition has improved dramatically. It'll take some time but I'm confident that she'll be alright though we'll have to wait for her to awaken before we know for sure." Tsunade said. Team eight, especially Shino, all took a sigh of relief at the news. Naruto turned to his girlfriend and began to praise her amazing skills, causing Hinata to blush sharply something she still did from time to time and Naruto loved causing.

"This news is very well received and appreciated Hokage-sama but it isn't what you called us here for is it?" Shino said.

"You are correct Shino. I've called you all here to tell you that we've spotted two Akatsuki members in the area. They were seen by a patrol team. So far they haven't crossed over the border and seem to be waiting for something." Tsunade stated.

"Is it Itachi and Kisame?" Naruto asked, curious.

"We haven't confirmed but I have a good idea who they are. They are most likely the ones that attacked the Hidden Mist village and captured Yagura." Tsunade said after a pause to prepare herself for the backlash of her statement.

"Wait so they are the ones that did that too Haku?!" Naruto said angrily, his eyes changing color in an instant.

"Naruto you will calm down and control yourself!" Tsunade order harshly. She rarely called him by his whole name and it was even rarer for her to shout at him. Both worked together to shock him out of his angered state and his eyes returned to their normal blue.

"There is more. A few weeks ago, right before you left for the Cloud village these very same Akatsuki members crossed the border long enough to slaughter a team of scouts aside from one who was only left alive to report what they did." Tsunade said.

"Why would they do such a thing? It makes little sense to announce their presence and then leave to attack the Mist village." Hinata spoke confused by their actions. Tsunade looked to Jiraiya and seeing him nod his consent she revealed the truth that she'd been holding for a few weeks.

"It was meant to act as a message to your entire team." Tsunade said as she closed her eyes and prepared herself to reveal the identity of the newest Akatsuki member that had put Haku in the hospital and was currently baiting her son and his team to attacking them. She looked at them all and could see barely contained anger from Naruto, curiosity and concern from Hinata, and nothing at all from Shino. That the Aburame member had yet to visibly react to the news that it was Akatsuki member that injured Haku was troubling in and of itself.

"From what the scout reported, his teammates were killed when one of the Akatsuki members grabbed them one by one and burned them to death in a instant leaving a chard corpse in his wake and that he grabbed the surviving leaf ninja and his eyes were the deepest crimson." Tsunade said, without opening her eyes.

The killing intent that flowed throughout the room from all three of the members of Team Eight made Tsunade pause in her explanation. Naruto was already using two tails of Kyuubi's power and was drawing on even more of it. Hinata's byakugan was activated and the mask of fury on her face would have actually made Hiashi proud had he seen it. Shino was rage incarnate. The Aburame's insects were free and flying around his body in a frenzy, reacting to Shino's emotions. The buzzing heard was deafening and loud enough that the windows in the room were shaking violently. Shino's body shook with his anger and his face looked almost as demonic as Naruto's.

"**Why? Why did you wait so long to tell us?! It's that freak isn't it?! That piece of trash that slaughtered a helpless child and her entire village for sport is the same one that attacked the Mist village and almost killed Haku?!**" Naruto shouted as his cloak formed a third tail.

Jiraiya was quick to run to Naruto and slap a seal on his forehead forcing the Kyuubi's chakra back into the seal. Naruto shook the toad sage off of him and turned his eyes t Tsunade, the fury in them palpable.

"Why did you with hold this information from us Hokage-sama?" Shino asked, his voice eerily calm despite his body language and the insects that had yet to quiet down. That they could still speak and hear one another was surprising.

"I received the information after you had left for your mission. I didn't tell you once you came back because you had enough on your plate with the seal breaking down and the revelation that a remnant of Kushina is still in your seal. Gai's death and Haku's condition didn't help things. However Akatuski is once again on the move and I'm sure that they've made a move of Killer Bee and Yugito at the Cloud village if this new group is appearing at our borders daring you to attack them." Tsunade explained to Naruto and the others. While they couldn't argue with that logic it didn't make them feel any better.

"Be that as it may you still should had said something Sensei. What if we had found out form someone other than you? It would have caused an untold amount of trouble." Hinata said her own soft voice filled with disapproval.

"I understand that and blame me if it helps you. However be advised that you will not be the team sent out to deal with them." Tsuande said in a commanding tone. If she thought the killing intent before was high she found a new respect for their ability to surprise her as the windows in the office cracked under the pressure that the three chunin put out. That Naruto was not even drawing upon Kyuubi's power yet could still generate such power was a testament to just how much chakra he had himself that wasn't a byproduct of being Kyuubi's container or the summoner of dragons.

"What do you mean?! We owe that freak for what he did to Saya and her village! We also have to avenge Haku!" Naruto roared.

"He's our responsibility Tsunade-sensei. He was our failure as a team and as a team we must be the ones that bring him to justice for the crimes he's committed against uas as well as for that accursed organization." Hinata said, her the tone of her voice absolute.

"With or without her consent he will fall at my hands Hokage-sama." Shino seethed, anger and betrayal reflected on his face.

"This is the very reason I didn't tell you! He was obviously recruited for their organization and sent to us now because of your prior confrontation. None of you are thinking correctly at this time. If you were to fight as you are then you chances of success would be abysmal. This is a trap through and through and they're counting on you making a mistake in your revenge fueled assault." Tsunade said, not backing down an inch.

She didn't like what she was telling them one bit and had been on the other side of such conversations with Sarutobi-sensei growing up but as Hokage she had to act in the best interest of the village and her ninja forces as a whole, despite their personal feelings and though she knew that team eight deserved to exact some form of revenge she also knew that objectively they were not in the right frame of mind to attack two S class ninja just yet. That this new fighter had single handedly beaten them before notwithstanding they would also be up against Deidara.

"Hold on Tsunade that's not fair to them. You know what this means to them and in all honesty you wouldn't be able to stop them either." Jiriaya stated gaining Tsunade's attention.

"It's too dangerous Jiraiya. Naruto does not yet have control over Kyuubi's chakra and until he can control it he's a danger to himself and his teammates." Tsunade countered.

Naruto looked like he wanted to protest but held is tongue as he knew she was correct he and Hinata looked over to Shino and remembered what happened the last time that they faced this opponent and he got away. Shino still had the scars from when Naruto unleashed four tails of chakra and went into a berserk mode unable to tell friend from foe. If Naruto were to lose control again due to his emotions and the tentative state of the seal there was no telling what could happen.

"Then I'll do it now! I'll defeat the fox and gain control over its chakra once that's done there's no reason we can't go out there and put him and his partner in the dirt for what they've done." Naruto said, his iron strong determination appearing in his eyes.

"Naru-chan we are also under a tight window here. There's no telling how long they'll just wait to see if you come after them. If they don't see a response soon they might take more drastic measures. If they're willing to attack a fire country temple as well as the Hidden Sand village then they aren't lacking boldness." Tsunade said. She could see that for the most past Naruto and the others had calmed down enough to think clearly though the only though in their heads was obviously both the failed mission and the thirst for retribution.

Still she could sympathize with them. She remembered when Sarutobi-sensei rejected her idea for starting a medic corps during the last great ninja war. She'd felt similar to how Naruto was feeling now and it was the loss of Dan and her inability to save him that drove the point home of how many lives could have been saved if Sarutobi had given her the green light.

"Very well Naru-chan. You have exactly one week. If by then you don't have Kyuubi's chakra under your control I will send out another team to deal with them. Shino, Hinata please refrain from doing anything rash. Trust me when I say I know how you feel but going off along is suicidal and will do neither of you any good." Tsunade said giving the two a wary gaze.

"I will take his head and let my swarm feast on his remains. Hokage-sama. That being said I'm will not allow my emotions to cause me to take actions that will stop me from fulfilling that objective. I will remain in the village until the deadline is up." Shino said, surprising everyone present with the length of his response.

"As will I sensei. I have complete faith in Naruto-kun so I have no doubt that in a week's time the Akatsuki will be down two more members." Hinata said, turning a confident smile to Naruto. He gave a smirk back as he turned to address his adoptive mother.

"One week is more than enough time. Come on Ero-sennin." He said simply as he turned to leave, wanting to start immediately.

"By your leave Hokage-sama." Shino said as he followed his teammate out. Hianta gave a silent bow and team eight left together.

"I wonder how long it'll take them to forgive me." Tsuande said to Jiraiya who was about to jump out of her window.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they're far too busy thinking of ways to train themselves to be ready." Jiraiya said giving her a comforting smile.

"Take care of him Jiraiya. With this new information you can't take him out of the village just in case something goes wrong." Tsunade warned.

"Come on Hime it's me!" the toad sage said jokingly as he leapt out of the window.

"That's what I'm worried about." Tsuande said to herself, concerned for the two men that meant he most to her.

**(Training Ground)**

"I can't believe that freak is working for Akarsuki." Naruto growled to himself as he waited for Jiraiya to come. He was currently meditating to control his anger thus he was in his mindscape in front of Kushina and Kyuubi's cage.

"Evil always attracts one another Naruto-kun." Kushina said leaning against the metal gate that held Kyuubi at bay. The cage itself looked terrible. There were cracks all over it and red chakra was constantly leaking out.

"That's fine with me. Makes it easier to crush them all in one strike." Naruto said hotly. Kushina smiled softly at hearing him, he sounded just she used t when she got upset. Kushina was thankful for Hinata. The girl was so very much like Minato, have the ability to calm down the Uzumaki's fiery temper with just a look or phrase.

"**You're getting ahead of yourself brat. Are you forgetting that for you to even have a chance to redeem your past failure you'll have to defeat me in combat?**" Kyuubi spoke up with a deep chuckle.

"I haven't forgotten but I also have a feeling that you don't have a desire to go from one prison to another. I don't know what Akatsuki wants with you and the others but I doubt it's good for either of us." Naruto said turning his attention to the giant fox.

"True. That being said I believe it's time for me to teach you how to make us of the special chakra of the Uzumaki. My time here is short and once you defeat fuzzy here I'll disappear." Kushina said as she walked over to Naruto.

"**Why does everyone make it sound like it's a guarantee that he'll beat me?**" The great demon muttered to himself as he laid down again.

"Then let's get started!" Naruto said loudly with a bright smile on his face.

"That'll have to wait dear. Ero-sennin is here and I think he wants to talk to you first." Kushina said.

"Alright. I'll be back soon. Get ready fox because I'm going to take you down." Naruto said as his mental image of himself disappeared.

"Are you going to take it easy on him?" Kushina asked Kyuubi as she sat down and leaned back against his cage.

"**Would you?**" Kyuubi responded with a snort.

"Good point." She replied as she meditated to conserve as much of her residual chakra as she could.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked up to see Jiraiya walking down the path. The toad sage had a serious look on his face which was rare in and of itself but his body language was stiff and tight, as if he was preparing himself for a fight.

"Let's go Ero-sennin. We don't have any time to waste." Naruto said as he stood up and began to stretch.

"We're leaving." Jiraiya said shortly.

"What?" Naruto asked to dumbfounded to be upset.

"You heard me. You battling Kyuubi for dominance is much too dangerous to take place in the village. I'll be taking you to the realm of the toads to train." The toad sage said expecting Naruto to blow up on him.

"Fine let's go." Naruto said shortly. Seeing the look on Jiraiya's face he decided to elaborate.

"As long as we're back before the week deadline then it doesn't matter to me. Beating Kyuubi is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done and I don't need to rekindle old feelings with the villagers and ninja if they feel me starting to lose control." Naruto said as he looked back to the village.

What went unsaid but was understood between the two of them is that Naruto was afraid that he would lose. Naruto still had nightmares about Bahamut and the way he was all but unstoppable. The only reason Naruto was still alive was because of the other dragons and Bahamut underestimating him at the last moment allowing Naruto to put the seal on him. Kyuubi would not be falling for such a thing. He had known Naruto far too long to underestimate him. And if Naruto lost, while he was fairly sure that Kyuubi wouldn't eradicate the village if freed, he didn't want to chance it.

"Do you want to let Shino and Hinata know before we go?" Jiraiya asked his student.

"That won't be necessary." Naruto and Jiraiya turned to see Hinata walking towards them with a box in her hands.

"What are you doing here Hinata?" Jiraiya asked, wondering if the girl had been stalking him the whole way.

"I was coming to give Naruto-kun some lunch before he started training." Hinata replied as she set the box down and opened it up to reveal hot and ready ramen specially made from Teuchi and Ayame.

"You're an angel Hinata-chan!" Naruto said as he began to dig into his favorite meal.

"I want to come with you." Hinata said as she turned her attention to the toad sage.

"Any particular reason why aside from the alone time you hope to have?" Jiraiya said with a small smirk.

"You'll need someone to help keep Naruto-kun under control if the battle with Kyuubi begins to go badly. My powers have already shown an ability to do this very thing." Hinata said professionally, ignoring Jiraiya's teasing.

"That's a good point. Alright then. Go and pack your things and meet me here in an hour. We don't have any time to waste." Jiraiya said.

"Wait a minute. What if thse two Akatsuki attack the village while we're away looking for me?" Naruto asked, taking a small break from inhaling his food.

"Don't worry about that. Tsunade will have a small toad with her that she can use to get in contact with us. It'll take mere moments to get back and help. But I truly feel that they'll hold their position and wait for you to come to them." Jiraiya stated, calming Naruto's fears.

"Alright then see you in an hour. Time to do some research." Jiraiya said with a perverted grin and went for the hot springs.

Naruto and Hinata could only shake their heads at the behavior of one of the strongest ninja in the world. Hand in hand they walked back to the viilage intending to tell Shino what was going to happen. They'd normally ask him to come with them but they knew he'd want to stay with Haku in case she woke up.

**(Konoha Hospital)**

Shino sat in Haku's room and gazing at her slumbering form. He'd been there for quite a while after learning the identity of the person who'd done this as well as the time frame that he had to figure out a way to kill said opponent. There was no doubt in his mind that Naruto would be successful in fully mastering Kyuubi's chakra. Thus his only task now was to ensure Haku's continually improvement in health and figure out a way to kill the Akatsuki member responsible first before Naruto or Hinata got a crack at him.

So far he was at a loss. He knew his target could control fire and heat to such a degree that simply being touched would spell death in a matter of moments. How this monster achieved this skill was not important to Shino he just needed to figure out a way around it. His insects could not take extreme temperatures and the flames that would be sent his way were hot enough to melt stone so a frontal assault was not going to work. However his opponent also could extend his aura several feet around his body that made breathing difficult and brought most ninja to their knees.

All in all Shino would be facing an opponent that was the worst type of ninja for an Aburame to combat. But it didn't matter to him. One look at Haku was enough to rekindle Shino's anger and strengthen his resolve that he would be the one to kill him.

'I will need to speak with father. He will hopefully have some advice for me.' Shino thought to himself as he stood to leave. He turned as he heard the door opening and was slightly surprised to see Samui entering in the room. Her cool blue eyes settled on Haku and then Shino.

"Greeting Shino-san. I was informed by one of your clansmen that you would be here." Samui stated, her face betraying nothing.

"For what purpose did you seek me out Samui-san?" Shino asked the Cloud ambassador.

"I wished to speak with you about the set up of Konoha's academy standards. Seeing the numerous talented young ninja that your village has put out recently Raikage-sama asked me to examine the differences between our system and yours." Samui stated as her eyes fell on Haku again.

"However I was unaware that you were preoccupied. This is Haku-san correct?" Samui continued her expression giving away nothing.

"Yes she is." Shino said as he observed her. Samui was completely relaxed as far as he could see though her eyes, while holding the same indifference as normal, seemed a bit more interested and even calculating than normal.

"To have survived an attack from an Akatsuki member shows her strength as a ninja." Samui said as she turned to look at Shino.

"Indeed. She can rest easy as I will bring her the head of the one responsible." Shino said as he clenched his fist.

"You know the location of an Akatsuki member?" Samui asked curiously. Not wanting to give away information that was still considered classified, Shino didn't respond. Understanding his silence Samui nodded slightly letting him know she understood his situation.

"From what little I see she appears to have been burned. Logically this means that her opponent either was adapt at fire jutsu or would be the known member Deidara of the hidden rock village. However if it had been Deidara then you would not feel the need to keep this to yourself as he a member that was in the information your village shared with ours. I can only conclude that either your village was withholding information from us which I find unlikely, or there is a new member that you just came to know was a part of the organization." Samui deduced. Shino was momentarily stunned by the level of deductive skill needed to figure that out.

"We do not know his name or who he is. All that we know is that he has a mastery over fire that we've never seen before." Shino said deciding to reveal some, but not all of the information that they had. If the Leaf and Cloud villages wanted to mend broken bridges then they would have to start to trust one another and the Akatsuki was a danger to them all.

"From what I understand about your blood limit fire is the most troublesome element for your swarm to deal with correct?" Samui asked, her eyes softening a bit in appreciation of him sharing information in her and thus putting a small measure of trust in her.

"Indeed. I must find a way to defeat him. I was on my way to meet my father and ask his advice." Shino stated.

"Perhaps I can come as well. I have fought ninja proficient in fire jutsus before and might be able to give some help in your cause." Samui said, her eyes never faulting as she stared at his own.

"Your insight would be much appreciated." Shino said. He turned and leaned down to place a kiss on Haku's cheek before turning to lead Samui to his compound. He noticed something pass across her eyes but ignored it for the moment. If she could help him prepare for his next opponent then he'd take the assistance gladly.

**(Mount Myoboku)**

Jiraiya, Hinata and Naruto all appeared in a heavily forested area with a large mountain before them. Naruto and Hinata was stunned by the beauty of the land was the numerous toads that were moving about. Some were as small as mice but others were bigger than them. They created quite a stir as well as the toads around them stopped and observed the two new humans. Jiraiya's presence was all that kept them from being attacked.

"Jiraiya-chan what took you so long to finally introduce us to Minato's tadpole?" Shima said as she appeared and jumped on Naruto's shoulder to get a better look at him.

"Um do you know me?" Naruto asked the female toad as she turned his head one way and another, ignoring him.

"Too skinny though. I'll make some of my patented beetle soup and put some meat on your bones." She said as she jumped from Naruto's shoulder and began to leap back to her home. Naruto was completely confused and he wasn't the only one. While Shima had been observing him Fukasaku was before Hinata and observing her.

"Him you must be Naruto-chan's mate right? You're pretty enough and I sense and inner power from you that has nothing to do with that special chakra in your body." He said respectably to Hinata. Hinata was just as confused as Naruto as to this toad's identity but she bowed and thanked him for his words.

"Finally a respectful visitor! I wish Jiraiya-chan would learn from you girl. Naruto-chan if you let this girl go I'll kick your tail myself! I hope you let me meet the little tadpoles you and Naruto-chan have in the future girl." He said making both Naruto and Hinata blush so red that Jiraiya was pretty sure they could be seen from space.

"Please follow me. My wife should have gotten that stew started already." Fukasaku said as he hopped away as well.

"Okay what just happened? Who were they and how did they know us?" Naruto asked looking at Jiraiya as Hinata was still lost in a day dream of marrying Naruto and giving birth to their children.

"Those are the two toad sages that I merge with to use my sage mode. They are the highest authority second only to the Great Toad Sage himself. They'll be helping you train Naruto." Jiraiya said.

"That still doesn't explain how they knew about me and Hinata-chan." Naruto said, accepting the explanation.

'Well when they found out you wouldn't be signing the toad contract by demanded that I keep tabs on you and tell them about your life. They were always pretty close with your father and wanted to know his son." Before Jiraiya could go on Gamabunta hoped over to them, causing them to stumble from the ground shaking.

"Jiraiya it took you long enough to bring the tad pole here." The giant toad said as he smoked his pipe.

"It's a honor to meet you Gamabunta-sama." Naruto said as he and Hinata bowed to him.

"Ha! I like them already. They're way more polite then you Jiraiya. Climb on you two I'll show you around the mountain." Gamabunta said and he lowed himself for Naruto and Hinata to climb on his back.

"Hey what about me?" Jiraiya asked his summon.

"You can walk!" Gamabunta said as he blew smoke on Jiraiya and hopped away.

'No respect.' Jiraiya thought to himself as he coughed to clear his lungs.

Meanwhile Naruto and Hinata were enjoying the view and the conversation with Gamabunuta who was just as curious about them as the two toad sages had been.

'You know this might not be so bad. I think things are going t be alright.' Naruto thought to himself.

**(Kumo)**

A bloodied Killer Bee stood over Yugito's unconscious form trying to hold back Itachi and Kisame.

"Looks like playtime's over. Can we finish this already Itachi?" Kisame asked his partner.

"The Rai-kage will be here shortly. It would be wise that we capture them now. Take them Kisame." Itachi said as he turned to walk away.

"My pleasure." Kisame said as he advanced on them.

"It's time for Killer Bee to take it to the next stage, so fall back and see me rage!" Killer Bee shouted as he began to draw upon more and more of the eight tails' chakra.

Kisame watched as the dark skinned man grew in size until a giant ox/octopus creature stood before him.

"Oh good I was getting bored." Kisame said as he unwrapped Samehada completely.

"We don't have time for this Kisame." Itachi said as he looked over his shoulder to his partner.

"Don't worry Itachi this won't take long." The man known as the Monster of the Mist village prepared to show Killer Bee how he gained his other nick name.

The tailed beast without a tail.

**(End)**

**Merry Christmas to all my readers! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to finish but severe writer's block had me stuck for awhile. But I've got my inspiration back and am ready to churn them out quicker!**

**What's to come of Killer Bee and Yugito? How will Naruto defeat Kyuubi in enough time to fight Blaze? Will Shino figure out a way to take on this powerful opponent? **

**That is a secret! (Man it felt good to say that!)**

**Still next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	18. Chapter 18

**LND 18**

**(Mount Myoboku)**

The training was much harder than Naruto could have possibly thought. While he had some level of training in controlling his wind element, adding it to the rasengan was by far the hardest thing he'd ever gone through. Compounding his frustration was that Fukasaku was his main overseer and the small toad sage enjoyed reprimanding him by striking Naruto over the head with his staff, which hurt a lot. It also didn't help matters that if his frustration grew too large that he would begin to draw on Kyuubi's chakra further deteriorating the seal and cutting the time they had to complete his training down.

Naruto looked over to where Hinata was training with Shima. The former Hyuga's training was not as strenuous as his own. She actually spent most of her time meditating with the female toad sage to better control her angelic chakra. Shima helped Jiraiya stabilize his Sage mode as she and her husband continually drew upon the nature's chakra and balanced it while he was in battle, hence them needing to remain on his shoulders. She was well versed in maintaining and utilizing foreign chakras and was aiding Hinata.

"Pay attention boy!" Fukasaku said as he wacked Naruto over the head again with his staff.

"Better you then me." Jiraiya chuckled at the blond teenager as he himself remembered just how painful that small toad staff could be.

"This isn't working. We've already been here two whole days and I still can't combine my wind chakra with my rasengan." Naruto said as he fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"That's true and you only have 5 days left before Tsunade dispatches an entire regiment of shinobi after those two." Jiraiya reminded Naruto.

"That piece of trash is mine! No one else is going to take his head except me or my teammates." Naruto shouted as his eyes turned red. The toad sage quickly slapped a tag on Naruto's head to repress the Kyuubi's chakra.

"It's too difficult. It's like trying to look left and right at the same time." Naruto said as he stared at the two before him hoping that they would have some insight for him.

"If it was easy to do then your father and I would have finished it by now. You more than anyone should know that nothing comes easily in this world Naruto." Jiraiya said as he and Fukasaku walked away to give Naruto time to rest.

'I wonder how Shino's training is coming.' Naruto thought to himself as he formed another rasengan and got back to work.

**(Konoha Training ground)**

Shino dodged another blast of fire from Samui. He had been training none stop the past few days trying to prepare himself for his next confrontation with one of the only people to incur such a rage in him that calming down his insects took a great deal of his control. That being said Shino could tell that the training was not enough. While Samui was very proficient in fire jutsu as she was lightning jutsu she couldn't replicate the fiend's ability to produce a level of heat strong enough to incapacitate even someone like Naruto up close. Haku's blood limit seemed the best weapon against such an opponent and even she nearly lost her life at his hands.

"You are distracted Shino-san." Samui said breaking his thought.

"While I am grateful for you taking time to help me prepare for battle I feel our efforts will produce little fruit." Shino said his voice expressing his frustration.

"I am not at the level of the opponent you will soon face. Every member of the Akatsuki is incredibly powerful. Why does Hokage-sama not send more than just you and your teammates?" Samui said, not understanding Tsunade's thinking. Shino briefly recalled the mission that would forever haunt him and quickly broke that line of thinking when he heard his swarm begin to react.

"Me and my comrades have a history with him." Shino said, leaving it at that.

"You said that his biggest threat was the range in which his could affect an opponent correct?" Samui asked. When Shino nodded an affirmative she began to run through hand signs and he saw electricity begin to move across her body.

"I have been taught a jutsu that affects a wide area with lightning charka, stunning any who come into contact with it. I cannot hold this justu for long and it is purely a defensive technique as I cannot move while performing it. Perhaps it will help?" She asked as she kept her hands in a particular seal and concentrated on keeping the dome of lighting chakra stable.

It was an interesting thought and while the effect if he was hit was not the same the principal was. He couldn't use long range attacks against Samui as it wouldn't be fair seeing as how she couldn't move while using her maneuver she he instead moved to see what level of speed would allow him to get close enough to land a significant blow before feeling the effects of her chakra.

'This might work.' Shino thought to himself as he charged at Samui.

**(Kumo)**

Itachi watched as Kisame removed his Akatsuki cloak and prepared to battle the giant ox. The two tailed cat's container was hidden from view with the giant behemoth in front of them and Itachi knew their time was running out before the Raikage and his elite guard appeared. That would make escape very difficult indeed and the wayward Uchiha had no desire to fight so many high powered opponents.

"We don't have time for you to play around Kisame. Defeat him quickly." Itachi ordered the Monster of the Hidden Mist village.

"Fine Itachi. You really do know how to be a killjoy you know that?" Kisame said, upset at his partner.

Killer Bee was in a very precarious position. He had to defend himself but also had to protect the unconscious Yugito. Itachi had caught her in a genjutsu early on and he hadn't been able to break her out of it as Kisame gave him no time. He couldn't go all out with her laying around his feet lest he crush her by mistake. He had to buy time until his brother arrived.

"Hey are you going to fight or not? I've already hunted down two of your kind and they showed more backbone then you." Kisame shouted out, completely unaffected by the giant demon before him.

'**Bee shut that fish faced human up!**' The eight tailed demon shouted to his container, not appreciating being insulted.

'Right!' Bee responded. He gently grabbed Yugito with one of his tails and wrapped her securely. He couldn't take the chance of Itachi coming and snatching her up while he was distracted. With Yugito safe he charged Kisame.

"That's more like it!" Kisame shouted with glee as he avoided a giant fist from crushing him. Samehada began to wiggle it its wrapping and Kisame realized that the legendary sword found the eight tail's chakra particularly appealing.

'Let's feast Samehada!' Kisame thought as he jumped onto Killer Bee's arm and began to run towards the head.

"Get off!" bee shouted and he swung his arm in the air throwing Kisame off. He then tried to strike Kisame with one of his tails. He was shocked to see the tail all but disappear with Kisame blocked with Samehada. The tail shrank away into nothing as the scaled sword absorbed it.

'**That's one dangerous sword**.' Hachibi said to Killer Bee.

"Well will you look at that. Samehada really does love the taste of your chakra. I'll have to be careful not to let him eat it all. You're no good to us dead. At least not right now." Kisame said and he ran through hand signs.

"**Water style: Exploding water colliding wave!**" Kisame called out and he spewed a huge amount of water out of his mouth. Killer Bee jumped up to avoid the tidal wave but landed in a small ocean of water.

'This guy's something else eight, he could turn a desert into a large lake.' Bee rapped, much to Hachibi's irritation.

"Ah that's better so let's continue!" Kisame said as he completely unwrapped Samehade. The blade was a mass of sharp scales but the most alarming part was the large mouth filled with sharp teeth that seemed to be smiling at them.

"**Water style: a thousand feeding sharks!**" Kisame called out as one thousand water sharks rose from the large body of water and flew at Killer Bee.

'Aw crap.' Bee thought as the sharks rained down on him.

**(Mount Myoboku)**

"You sure about this kid?" Jiraiya asked Naruto as he, Hinata, Shima and Fukasaku all stood around Naruto.

"Yeah I'm ready." Naruto said as he created two shadow clones. All three Naruto's began to concentrate and the original held out his hand as one clone focused on forming the chakra and the other clone focused on the wind element. Naruto focused on blending them together perfectly. It was just as hard as before but the addition of another clone helped Naruto immensely. The fact that him losing control would possibly hurt his friends and loved ones was an added motivation and if there was one thing that Naruto refused to allow happen, it was to let any harm come to his precious people.

'You can do it Naru-chan!' Kushina shouted in his mind with enthusiasm. Kyuubi just snorted muttering to her if shouting in his mind was the best way for him to keep his concentration.

"**Futon Rasengan!**" Naruto shouted as he put all of his willpower into the technique. Both clones dispersed and all parties present bore witness to the new technique. The rasengan didn't look all that different except for the four small blades that surrounded it. Despite its appearance the power of the technique was almost palpable.

'He did it. He truly is your son Minato.' Jiraiya thought to himself as the two toad sages began to marvel at the strength and skill of such a young human. Hinata jumped onto Naruto and pulled him into a deep kiss once he released the move and Naruto swung her around happily.

"You're something else Naruto." Jiraiya said gaining his apprentice's attention. Naruto's smile faded at the serious look on Jiraiya's face.

"You know what you have to do now right? It's time for you to gain complete control over the Kyuubi." The toad sage said solemnly. Hinata held Naruto's hand, concerned for her love's safety.

"I'm ready." Was all that the chunin said while Fukasaku and Shima looked at one another.

"Let's go then." Jiraiya said as he turned and walked away. The two toad sages jumped onto his shoulders and began to speak with him.

"Are you sure about this Jiraiya-chan? He's trained himself into the dirt these last few days. He's got to be both physically and mentally drained." Shima said.

"He's ready. That kid doesn't know the meaning of how to admit defeat. If anyone's going to subjugate the Kyuubi it'll be him." Jiraiya said stone faced. The married couple said nothing more, trusting Jiraiya's judgment.

"Naruto-kun, are you sure about this?" Hinata asked, well aware of just how tired Naruto was.

"It'll be fine Hinata-chan. I've got to do this to keep up with you and Shino." Naruto said giving her his usual bright smile that never failed to make her blush.

"I'll have my mother with me to help me and Kyuubi isn't all that bad. He's just grouchy most of the time." Naruto said, trying to lighten her mood.

'**I'm not grouchy.**' Kyuubi muttered in Naruto's dreamscape.

'Yes you are fuzzy.' Kushina said with a laugh as Kyuubi slammed a tail against the cage at her. Once again a very loud and noticeable groan was heard from the cage showing just how far it had deteriorated.

Naruto himself feel to his knees from the pain of feeling a burst of demonic chakra flare up from the seal. His sword immediately glowed with the power of the dragons to suppress the demonic chakra but really only made things worse as it flowed into the seal and reacted negatively to the demonic chakra present.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she laid her hands on him and called upon her own divine chakra to try and separate the two opposing forces inside of the seal to ease Naruto's discomfort.

"I'm alright." Naruto said as he got to his feet. His was sweating profusely and this time it had nothing to do with how hard he had been pushing himself over the last few days.

"No you're not. The seal is going to break soon and you're barely holding it together. We don't have any more time Naruto." Jiraiya said without turning his head. He was preparing himself to stand by and watch as another student of his put their life on the line while he was powerless to do anything to save them.

It wasn't long before they all arrived in a large cave. Strange seals could be seen all around the walls and toad statues seemed to be everywhere. Jiraiya stopped in the middle of the cave and pulled out a scroll. He went through a number of hand signs and placed the scroll on the ground. An elaborate seal spread from it with and Jiraiya backed away. Shima and Fukasaku then jumped from his shoulder and together began to gather chakra as well before placing their hands on the seal causing it to brightly glow with energy.

"It's ready Jiraiya-chan." Shima said as they jumped onto his shoulder. Jiraiya nodded and quickly summoned a toad the likes of which Naruto and Hinata had yet to see. He was a black and orange toad with dark markings around his eyes, mouth and a circular mark just below his mouth. His abdomen extended to reveal a scroll.

"This is Gerotora. He holds the key to your seal." Jiraiya said. The toad looked to Naruto and narrowed his eyes.

"You sure about this Jiraiya? He still looks pretty young to try this. Even his mother was never able to fully control that fox and she was almost twice his age it seems." The newly named toad said.

"We don't have much of a choice in this matter I'm afraid. Naruto stand in the circle." Jiraiya said to his young charge. Naruto squeezed Hinata hand and gave her a light kiss before walking in the middle of the seal.

"That seal will activate once you begin your trial. It's been fortified with my chakra as well as that of the toad sages. It should be strong enough to hold back anything dangerous." He elaborated.

"You mean if I lose and the fox takes over my body." Naruto plainly stated. Jiraiya smirked at the kid and looked to Gerotora.

"Do it." Jiraiya ordered the toad.

"I hope you know what you're doing." The toad muttered as it approached Naruto.

"Open your mouth." He said simply.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Open your mouth! I've got to get inside your body." The toad shouted at him.

"Say what?!" Naruto shouted back in shock. Unfortunately Gerotora took advantage of his stunned expression and jumped into Naruto's mouth. The blonde began to choke and Fukasaku jumped up and kicked the toad down Naruto's mouth.

Naruto could breathe again and after muttering something unkind to Jiraiya sat down in the middle of the seal as it formed a barrier around him and began to meditate. As weak as the seal was it opened quickly and Naruto was drawn into his mindscape.

**(Mindscape)**

Naruto stood beside his mother as the giant gates began to open. He placed her hand on his shoulder as the only thing holding back the most powerful demon on earth was finally lifted. Without a word both walked into the dark cave and stood before the giant fox that was still laying on its stomach and resting his head on his crossed hands.

"**So kit you believe you are ready?**" Kyuubi asked simply, his blood red eyes starting deeply into Naruto's own.

"I guess. To be honest I don't really see the need for one of us to be master over the other." Naruto said, surprising Kushina.

"I mean me and the dragons, well a few of them anyway, seem to get along fine and that's more of a partnership them anything else. Why can't we do the same?" Naruto asked.

"Naru-chan." Kushina muttered to herself. She was about to say more before a giant tail smacked her away.

"Kaa-san!" Naruto shouted as he turned to look at his fallen mother. He was stopped from moving as he felt a killing intent unlike any other wash over him. He heard a dark and chilling chuckle that soon grew into outright laughter.

"**Finally! I finally have my patience rewarded!**" Kyuubi shouted as he got to his feet and charged the blond.

"What's gotten into you?!" Naruto shouted as he pulled his sword and was forced to block a giant claw that would have removed his head. Instead of follow up his assault Kyuubi leaned down with a demonic smile and stared deeply into Naruto, as if looking into his soul.

"**Foolish brat. Do you really think that I aided you all these years because I cared? Do you really think the greatest of all demons would be content as the power source of a boy?!** **All that I have done, including all the times I helped you was simply to lure you into a false sense of security, calmly biding my time until I could strike. You should never trust a fox boy. We're known tricksters. I'll defeat you and seal you in this cage as I take the lives of all you hold dear, starting with precious Hinata-chan!**" Kyuubi roared as his very chakra blew Naruto away from him.

Naruto was stunned from what he had learned. While he wouldn't have called Kyuubi friend over the years he had thought they had become reluctant partners. It seemed that he was mistaken and the fox only showed concern for him because it kept the fox alive until this moment when it could achieve its freedom.

"If that's how it is then so be it! I'll stomp your furry butt and caste you to the furthest reaches of my mind! My body will never be yours." Naruto said as he drew upon the power of the dragons. He once again changed as his hair turned the color of gold and the dragon tattoo wrapped itself around his body. He could feel the pull of his sword. It was as if it called for him to finally allow it to do what it had been forged to do, which was the defeat of all demonic foes.

'I guess finding a middle ground between the two is and always will be impossible.' Naruto thought as he jumped in the air to avoid one of Kyuubi's tails smashing into him. He was not fast enough to avoid the giant hand that grabbed him and brought him face to face with the giant demon.

"**Don't worry boy. This will not be quick. I'm going to savor all the time we have together.**" He snarled as he smashed Naruto into the ground. He raised him up again to repeat as Naruto retaliated.

"**Dragon strike!**" he called out as he unleashed the giant golden dragon shaped blast at Kyuubi's face. The explosion that followed did little more than tickle the giant demon and he chuckled condescendingly.

"**You'll have to do much better than that boy.**" He said.

"How about this then?!"

Kyuubi released Naruto when he felt familiar chakra chain wrap around his back leg and pull him swiftly, toppling him. Roaring in anger moreso than pain he turned and glared at the newly risen Kushina. Her eyes were alight with rage at the fox and promised much more retribution.

"**Do you think this wise Kushina? I'm sure you remember what happened the last time you attempted to fight me.**" Kyuubi said as he got back to his feet and turned his attention to the crimson haired woman.

"Last time? What's he talking about?" Naruto asked his mother. Kushina's stony gaze wavered for a brief moment but she didn't answer.

"**Yes I forgot that you still haven't told him the whole truth of his birth have you. How interesting.**" Kyuubi said with a dark chuckle.

"Shut your mouth fuzz butt!" She yelled out as more and more chakra chains sprung from her back. They circled around his mouth, attempting to cut off the Kyuubi's speech. The giant fox easily broke the chains like thread.

"**You're out of practice and unlike before this is not your mind we are in. You're power is greatly diminished.**" Kyuubi said as he turned back to the still confused Naruto. Seeing what he had planned Kushina attempted to stop him only to be restrained by his tails.

"**On the night of your birth boy both of your parents left this world. Contrary to what you have been told she did not die in child birth and your father did not die from sealing me into your body.**" Kyuubi said to Naruto. It would have been simplicity itself to strike him down then and there but what fun was that? Kyuubi was enjoying tormenting his mind far too much.

"**You are unaware of this but when a female demon container is close to giving birth the seal on their body begins to weaken. Your father to your mother to a secret location to try and keep me contained until you came into this world. Needless to say that I fought tooth and nail to stop this from happening. Salvation came when an enemy snuck into the compound and laid waste to everyone there except for your father and mother. This assailant held you in his arms and threatened to kill you in front of your father. But to his credit that blond idiot was able to save your life, though it did cost him losing your mother to the foe.**" Kyuubi explained. Kushina was fighting with what little power she had left to try and free herself. She didn't want Naruto to hear about this from the fox. There was no way to know how he would take it.

"**The man took your mother and began to release me.** **I was both encouraged and dismayed when I felt the seal breaking. I was very happy to finally feel the possibility of freedom for the first time in decades but I knew the feel of the chakra around that man and knew that it was almost has evil as my own. Soon however I was free. I could finally control my own actions if only for a moment. That man bound me in my own mind and sent me to your village. I must admit I enjoyed slaughtering your useless ninja in grove. It was the first time I had savored a kill in a long time. The sounds of screaming, the death, blood, and fear in the air was nostalgic and a welcome feeling. But then your father came. Somehow he took me out of the village and to the area with your mother. He fought off that dark man and he and your mother decided to seal me in your body.**" Kyuubi continued as he saw Naruto wanting to learn more and more. He's almost forgotten how much fun it was to toy with the minds of humans.

"**I was once again in control of myself and refused to allow such a thing to occur. I had finally been released into the world and would not lose it again! So I decided to take out the one thing that was still in my way, your small body. You were weak, helpless, and defenseless. It would have been all too easy. So I struck. Imagine my surprise with I had impaled not you but both of your parents!**" Seeing the horror on Naruto's face Kyuubi's dark laugh echoed throughout the mindscape.

"**That's right boy both your parents died to protect you from me and with the last of their energy sealed me into your pathetic body. If not for you they might have survived. You say that you will protect your precious people yet from the time of your birth all you have done is cost others their lives!**" Kyuubi purred out. He loved the look of disbelief and defeat that appeared on Naruto's face.

"**So you see boy killing you will be a kindness. If by some miracle you were able to defeat me all you'd do is fail those you swore to protect. Or do you need to be reminded of the fact that if not for those rats with wings your precious girlfriend would not be in this world and that sweet little child Saya who died a horrific death happened right in front of your eyes despite your best attempts and promise to save her? Face it boy you are a failure and once a failure, always a failure.**" Kyuubi shouted as he tossed his mother to his feet. Kushina immediately got up and tried to get Naruto's attention.

"Naruto? Look at me Naruto! Don't listen to him!" She shouted as she shook his prone body.

"Is it true? Did you and dad die because of me?" He asked as he turned his broken gaze to her. She knew she had to do something to bring him out of it. She'd never seen Naruto as close to the breaking point as he was at that moment.

"Of course not! We died protecting what was most important to us! Don't you ever doubt that. We loved you with everything we had and that night we swore that we'd do whatever it took to protect our legacy and let him grow up safely. Dying to protect those you care about is the ultimate show of love Naruto-chan and we'd have happily done it again and again." She said happily.

"**A touching speech but it changes nothing. Your son is a failure Kushina. He can't even protect himself much less anyone else. I've had my fun but now it's time to end this.**" Kyuubi said as he stalked towards them.

"**Not so fast!**" a voice cried out. A giant wall of fire erupted between Kushina and her son and the Kyuubi.

"**Oh look another lamb for the slaughter.**" Kyuubi said as the wall of fire disappeared and a giant red orb appeared. It soon turned into Drac.

"Drac you're okay!" Naruto called out, finally snapping out of his funk. Naruto's joy at seeing his long time friend and partner was tempered when he saw just what state that Drac was in. He was alive yes but the battle with Bahamut was clearly evident by the wounds that had still yet to fully heal. The large hole in his chest was gone but the flesh covering it was new and vulnerable.

"**A half dead lizard appears and you think you have a chance of victory. Don't be mistaken if anything his very presence should remind you of how powerless and useless you are. He was almost killed defending you and you could do nothing but stand by as his elder brother nearly snuffed out his life.**" Kyuubi said with a snort, causing Naruto to flinch at the truth of those words.

"**Silence fox!**" Drac said as he unleashed a wave of fire at Kyuubi. The fox didn't even move. The flames flowed around him causing no damage.

"**I'm a demon of fire you worm. Just what do you think you're going to accomplish aside from serving as a very big target?**" Kyuubi growled out as he swatted Drac away with his tails.

"Naruto we have to do something." Kushina said to her son. It was obvious that Kyuubi's words were causing him to doubt himself but Naruto wouldn't stand by as his friend was hurt. Together they approached the battle and jumped over another swinging tail from the fox.

"**Dragon storm!**" Naruto called out and he swung his sword down calling down the giant dragon blast. However, to his shock and dismay nothing happened. Kushina had to quickly grab Naruto and leap away as Drac came in to block a clawed strike Kyuubi had sent towards his container.

'What's going on why didn't it work?' Naruto thought as he held his sword up.

"Naruto honey what's wrong?" Kushina asked, not taking her eyes off of the battle. Drac had paid for his assistance as Kyuubi grabbed him by the throat and held him up in the air.

"**You forget your place you worm. You barely held your own against Shukaku all these years and you really think you had any chance against me?**" Kyuubi said with a smile as he tossed Drac into the air and slammed him back into the ground with his tails and continued to pound him with them. Kushina ran in and sent her chakra chains to wrap around the attacking limps, much to Kyuubi's ire.

"**Why do you continue to fight? Look at your son. He's will is broken. Without his resolve I doubt that blade will help him.**" Kyuubi snorted. He concentrated his demonic chakra around himself and then unleashed it in a concentracted wave. This attack blew both Kushina and Drac away from him. Neither got up quickly and Kyuubi turned to Naruto to verify that his words continued to affected the young man. He wasn't disappointed.

True enough Naruto was still looking at his sword, unable to connect with it. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to completely ignore what the fox had said but he had hit Naruto hard where he was most vulnerable and that was his inability to save those he cared about. It didn't help that the fox was privy to his most inner thoughts and he'd used that to his advantage. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to fight but what if he failed again?

He'd failed to save Hinata. He'd failed to save Saya. He'd failed to protect Drac and Tatsuo against Bahamut. What if he failed now?

"**When did you turn into such a wimp?**" A white orb appeared and Tetsuya appeared in front of the fox. The ice dragon sent a burst of ice at Kyuubi and unlike Drac's attempts hers actually caused the large fox some damage, minimal as it was.

"**And again another worm comes to stand before me.**" Kyuubu muttered to himself.

"**It is good to see you sister.**" Drac said as he came to his sister's side. He cringed at the annoyed look in her eyes.

"**You must have a death wish Drac. Standing up to Bahamut was suicidal enough but to face Kyuubi as injured as you are? Let's go.**" She said as she turned her back on Kyuubi.

"**Go? What are you talking about?**" Drac asked in pain. Some of his wounds had reopened and added to the new ones given by the fox, he was not in good shape.

"**You're of no use here and it's obvious the boy has lost whatever it was that made him worthy of our power in the first place. Much as I detest the fox he's right in this. The boy's resolve is gone and if he is afraid to fight then why should we put ourselves at risk?**" She retorted.

"**So is this how we are to act towards our allies?! In his time of greatest need should we turn our back on him? What right do we have to do so? The humans have numerous times over proven themselves and now when the one chosen to wield our power is at his most vulnerable, both mentally and physically, we are to turn our backs on him? I won't do it. Naruto might have lost faith in himself but I haven't I'll stand with him and if need be fall with him here and now.**" Drac said.

"**Yes because that worked out so well against Bahamut.**" Kyuubi snorted with a chuckle.

"**Shut your mouth!**" Drac hissed as he covered his body in flames.

The intensity of them even gave Kyuubi a momentary pause as Drac flew as fast as he could and slammed into the fox. Kyuubi's mirth quickly left him and he pushed Drac away but not before slashing his chest with his claws. Drac roared in pain at the new wounds and held a hand to his injury. Kyuubi was about to follow up when Tetsuya got in his way and froze his claw. This allowed them time to back away before Kyuubi freed himself.

Naruto, meanwhile, had rushed over to his fallen mother and tried to help her up. She was very weak not from injury but because the remnant of her chakra she'd put in the seal was almost up. She couldn't fight any longer or she'd use the scarce sum she had remaining. That still didn't mean that she couldn't help her son.

She did this by punching him in the face.

"Just who are you and what have you done with my son?! Where is the young man that stood up to Orochimaru when he was thirteen without batting an eye? Where is the man that fought one of the nine great demons and refused to give up even as he was knocking on death's door?! Where did he go?!" She shouted as she grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him until their noses touched.

"You are Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze! If you fail you get right back up and try again until you get it right. It's that what attracted Hinata-chan to you in the first place?" Kushina said staring into his eyes.

Meanwhile Drac and Tetsuya were doing their best to keep out of the range of Kyuubi's claws and tails, and failing at it. It was obvious he was just toying with them and it was a severe blow to their pride but there wasn't much they could do about it. Tetsuya took a bad wound to the back at the same time that Drac got knocked silly by a tail. Both fell to the ground and were slow to rise.

"**Pathetic.**" Kyuubi said as he turned his back on them and looked to see Kushina once again trying to reaffirm Naruto's resolve.

"**Let me show you how a true master of fire acts worm.**" He said at the downed Drac. Kyuubi waved one of his tails and a tidal wave of fire washed towards Kushina and Naruto. Drac raised a hand trying to exert his control over the flames and had his arm stepped on by Kyuubi for his trouble.

Neither of the humans made a move to avoid the flames, too wrapped up in their conversation. So it was a bit of a surprise when a tower of water sprang up in front of them, dousing the flames and protecting them.

"**I like your mother brat. Though I wish I were the one to hit you.**" The tower of water fell to the ground and covered it. Out of it rose the water dragon Adalinda. Seeing Naruto's surprised expression she decided to explain her presence.

"**I'm here to protect my siblings. Since Drac is too stubborn to leave Tetsuya won't go without him so someone has to protect them since their summoner won't. I'm surprised though. I wonder whatever happened to that young brat that stared me down when I was about to strike down the three tailed demon with no regard for his own safety. And to think I was gaining a small measure of respect for him.**" She said as she shot multiple water bullets at Kyuubi. He used his tails to protect himself and this gave Drac and Tetsuya time to get up and attack from him.

Seeing the fox's attention once again off of them Kushina turned back to Naruto and saw that he was still mentally fighting with himself. This was at least an improvement and she capitalized on it.

"There is going to be times that you fail Naruto you know this better than anyone however you are only a failure when you stop trying." Was the last thing Kushina said as she turned her back on her son. The rest was up to him.

Naruto began to shake with unreleased feelings. He was still confused and felt guilty about the deaths of his parents but to his very core Naruto had based his ninja career on the belief that no matter what came before him to try and take him down he'd never back down, never quit, never concede until his last breath.

Tetsuya, Drac and Adalinda stood together across from the fox. The first two were hurt but could still fight. Adalinda was fresh and a welcome addition to their defense.

"**The numbers begin to mount against you fox**." Adalinda said.

"**3 times nothing is still nothing you guppy.**" He snorted as he moved towards them.

Adalinda sent a wave of water at him that he blocked with one of his tails. Tetsuya moved to one side and froze the remnants of her sister's wave and sent the giant ice spikes at Kyuubi's face. He brought his arm up and they slashed it. He growled at the wound and swung a tail at her. Drac sent a blast of fire that knocked the tail off its path.

Adalinda saw Kyuubi's attention broken and sent her spiked tail at his chest. He saw the attack at the last minute and jumped back just as it came upon him. He bit her tail and swung her out of her self-made lake. She cried out in pain at the fangs in her tail and was tossed into the air. Drac and Tetsuya went to catch her and exposed themselves. Kyuubi acted quickly and the two found themselves pummeled into the ground and a tail wrapped around their throats and brought them in the air beside Adalinda who also had been captured.

"**I tire of this game. Now who should die first?**" he said casually. All three dragons snarled at him but he tightened his tails and began to cut off their breath.

"**I know. The first to stand beside the boy should be the first to fall before him. Proving my point that he is powerless to protect those he cares for. I thank you for the sacrifice you're about to make Drac.**" He said sarcastically. Six of his tails were still free and four of them wrapped around his limbs. They began to all pull in separate directions and the only reason Drac wasn't crying out in pain as the pressure of the tail around his throat.

"**Dragon Storm!**"

Kyuubi cried out in pain as he felt a blast of chakra slam into his back. He released his captives as he was driven to the ground for a brief moment. He turned to see what had happened and found Naruto and Kushina standing in front of the three dragons that were getting their bearing and stood behind the humans.

"**So your mother got through to you? I always knew she was a pain in the butt. It doesn't matter. If you refuse to listen to my generous advice then I will show you just how powerless you are to protect those you say you care about.**" Kyuubi said as he rushed for them. Kyuubi was knocked out of his path by a blast of wind that caught him unprepared on the side he turned and snarled at the appearance of Vasuki.

"**Glad you've come back to your senses Naruto.**" Vasuki said as he flew beside his siblings.

"**I knew you wouldn't let us down my friend.**" Drac said happily as he smirked at Adalinda and Tetsuya.

"**Took you long enough.**" Tetsuya said looking away in embarrassment.

"**Yes it's good to see that hardheaded brat that had the gall to stand up to me show himself.**" Adalinda put her two cents in.

"Sorry for taking so long. It won't happen again. Now I think it's time we show Kyuubi just want a bunch of weaklings can do." Naruto said as he placed his sword before him. He felt a wave of approval from the blade and knew he had its assistance again.

"**Do you really think adding another lizard will change the outcome of this battle? You truly have no idea how much power I wield do you? None of you that stand before me is my equal.**" Kyuubi said as his anger and rage manifested itself in his chakra beginning to climb higher and higher. Kyuubi was ready to make his move when he was consumed by a giant blast of lightning. He roared in pain as the resulting explosion kicked up a cloud of dust.

"**None stand your equal? You forget yourself fox.**" Naruto, Kushina and all the dragons looked up to see a giant black orb that morphed into Bahamut appear between them and the struck down Kyuubi.

"**Brother.**" Drac quietly said in both anger and confusion. He wasn't the only one feeling this way. None of the dragons were very pleased with their elder brother considering what he did to Tatsuo and tried to do to Vasuki. While many of them had their problems with a human being over them none of them felt so slighted that they would kill one of their own.

"**Don't misunderstand. I'm here just because I tire of listening to this fox forget his place.**" Bahamut said as he turned to look at the collected group.

"**And you don't seem to realize the situation you're in.**" Kyuubi said as he got up and shook himself off. Bahamut narrowed his eyes at how easily Kyuubi had shrugged off his attack.

"**Did you forget about the seal the brat placed on you? It's holding a majority of your power captive and without that you're no longer worthy to be called my rival.**" Kyuubi said with a deep and evil chuckle.

Bahamut gave a low growl. He was very aware of the seal that held back most of his power and had tried everything to break it. However it refused to yield and he had hoped that he still held enough power to challenge the Kyuubi. It seems he was wrong.

"**Boy release the seal you placed upon me.**" He ordered as he turned to look at Naruto again.

"No." Was the simple answer that followed.

"**Are you a fool boy? Without my power you stand no chance against him.**" Bahamut roared.

"And you expect me to trust someone that killed one of his own brothers and attempted to kill two others?" Naruto snorted. Bahamut turned to his siblings looking for assistance and found none.

Drac was still understandably bitter about the attempt on his life and the death of Tatsuo, as was Vasuki. Tetsuya may have been a bit blood thirsty at times but she put family above all else and Bahamut's attentions disgusted her. Adalinda was the closest to Bahamut's thoughts on humans but even she was unwilling to allow him to get away with trying to kill their brothers as well as the sword's wielder.

"**I'm going to enjoy this.**" Kyuubi said from behind Bahamut as he slashed the dragon across his back.

He continued onto his worst enemy and began to pound him with his tails. Bahamut was not one to take a beating lying down. He stood and swung his tail, smashing Kyuubi in his face. The fox snarled and leapt onto Bahamut, pinning him to the ground. Kyuubi was forced back from the combined attacks of Drac and Vasuki.

"**Why do you help me?**" Bahamut asked his brothers as he got to his feet.

"**You may not care about your family brother but we do.**" Drac responded, though he did not turn to meet his brother's gaze.

"**Defending the one that tried to take your life. You lizards really are too stupid to insult.**" Kyuubi stated as the combined dragons stood before him.

"**Now that you are all here I can send you all to the afterlife with your brother!**" Kyuubi shouted as the battle began.

"**Naruto get on!**" Drac shouted as Naruto and Kushina jumped onto his back. Naruto, Kushina, and all of the dragons could feel the shift in the air. Whereas before Kyuubi had been toying with them he was now about to go all out and bring the full force of his destructive power upon them.

"**Let's begin!**" Kyuubi said. He roared and the shockwave that followed caught them all off guard.

Tetsuya, being the most impulsive, charged in first. She formed a giant ice boulder and threw it at Kyuubi. The fox didn't even look at her as he had a tail deflect the attack and sent it at her chest. She moved quickly to avoid the strike but a second tail joined it and she was driven back. Vasuki came to her rescue and trapped Kyuubi in a giant tornado. Tetsuya moved beside her brother as Kyuubi dispersed the hindrance and charged the both of them. Tetsuya raised her arms and giant ice spike shot from the ground trying to skewer the fox. Kyuubi engulfed his body in flames and tore through them without missing a beat.

He was hit in the side by a giant blast of water as Adalinda joined the battle and his fur dosed by the attack. Bahamut then struck and his lighting attack was made stronger by the water and seemed to finally cause some damage. Drac moved in with Naruto and Kushina preparing themselves. Kyuubi shot his tails at them and Kushina formed chakra chains to block them as best she could. It gave Drac and Naruto time to go on the offensive.

"**Shadow clone jutsu!**" Naruto called out as he summoned one hundred clones. Each clone drew their sword.

"**Dragon strike!**" They all called out. Drac followed up with a giant fireball and the combined attacks hit Kyuubi directly in the face. The fox was thrown from his feet and slammed heavily on the ground.

"Don't let up!" Naruto called out seeing a moment of weakness to exploit.

For once none of the dragons, not even Bahamut, gave a voice of objection. Drac and Vasuki went first. With a combined assault Vasuki's wind powers bolstered Drac flames dramatically and Kyuubi found himself swept up in a tidal wave of fire. He growled darkly and exerted his own will over the flames until they died down. Adalinda struck next and dropped what could be considered a literal tidal wave of water on top of the great demon. A large amount of steam rose into the air blinding Kyuubi from the next attack which came from Tetsuya. The female ice dragon froze the steam into numerous ice lances that pierced the fox from all sides. Lastly Bahamut appeared in front of Kyuubi and was already aglow with his power. He brought the full force of it to bear and sent Kyuubi sprawling.

"**It's been far too long since I've felt this thrill of battle. It's been far too long since I've experienced the feel of the outside world and now I find myself closer than I've ever been and I won't let you stop me.**" Kyuubi said as he got to his feet.

"Give up Kyuubi. You're stronger than any one of us alone but together even you cannot defeat us all." Naruto said as the dragon's formed up. Naruto turned to look at them all and each one met his gaze and gave a slight nod, except for Bahamut but that was to be expected.

"**Is that right?**" Kyuubi said with a smile.

He suddenly sent four of his tails into the ground. Before anyone could blink the tails shot out and hit Vasuki, Tetsyua, Adalinda, and Drac in the face. Bahamut moved to attack the fox but Kyuubi was waiting. They two battled for a few seconds before Kyuubi bit deeply into Bahamut's arm and gave his several deep slashes across his chest.

"**Let him go!**" Tetsuya shouted as she came in and brought up an ice wall to block Kyuubi's follow up attack that would have severed Bahamut's head. She paid for her assistance when Kyuubi backhanded her across the face sending her to the ground. He tossed Bahamut into the air and before anyone could help pierced the giant beast with hone of his tails through the stomach.

The giant beast coughed up blood and was pulled forward as Kyuubi prepared to bit his head off. Adalinda recovered in time to cover her tail in water and sent the blade like appendage through Kyuuib's tail, cutting it off and freeing her brother. Kyuubi quickly regenerated the lost limb and turned his eyes on the only dragon that had neither arms nor legs.

Kyuubi leapt at her only for the water dragon to dive under the giant lake she had created upon her appearing. Kyuubi landed on the water and sent his tails down trying to skewer her. Adalinda was not to be trifled with on her own element however and formed a giant water ball that held the fox within it. Tetsuya took that moment to freeze the entire prison buying them a few precious seconds.

"**Are you alright brother?**" Vasuki asked the downed Bahamut.

"**I have a hole in my chest what do you think?**" He snarled.

"**Join the club.**" Drac snarled back as he appeared beside him. Bahamut had the decency to turn away in with a small growl at the reminder of what he'd done.

"**If you are all quite done we have a problem.**" Adalinda said as the giant ice ball began to crack from Kyuubi's actions.

"**We won't win if we keep getting split up. I suggest we all use our strongest attacks at once.**" Drac said. The others agreed though they had little time to argue as Kyuubi took that moment to break through his ice prison. They also bore witness to what he had been doing inside of it. In front of the fox was a giant black ball of condensed chakra. The strongest technique a tailed beast possessed, the Bijuu bomb.

"**All together!**" Drac called out. All of the dragons' jewels began to glow as their bodies began to glow as well.

"**Die!**" Kyuubi called out as he shot the attack at them.

As one all of the dragons shot their combined powers which fused together to meet the demon's attack. The two giant, village destroying forces clashed and fought for domination. It wasn't long before the power behind the attacks destabilized as they exploded. The explosion was so great that a blinding light covered the entire mindscape.

Naruto regained consciousness slowly and coughed up blood as he got to his feet and looked around. He saw his mother and went to her. She was still unconsciousness but alright. He continued to look around and saw that all of his allies were hurt, but still alive. Naruto looked at the giant wall of smoke in front of them but couldn't see anything.

His blood went cold as he heard a growling chuckle. Two giant blood red eyes appeared in the smoke and soon it disappeared to reveal Kyuubi. The fox was not unscathed. He had several wounds on his body and was panting with exhaustion. It seems that his power wasn't as limitless as he thought.

"**Futile.**" Kyuubi said as he sent a shockwave out that knocked his allies down again and sent a tail straight for Naruto's chest. Naruto brought his sword up and blocked the tail. He was being pushed back but held his ground. Naruto subconsciously created chakra chains like his mother that wound around the tail and helped to keep it from killing him.

"**Impressive but can you protect yourself and your mother at the same time?**" Kyuubi snarled as he sent his remaining tails at Kushina who was just getting back to her feet. She noticed the threat but was not nearly fast enough to save herself.

'No!' Naruto thought as he tried to think of something. He was drawing a blank and he was out of time as the tails slammed down on Kushina.

All three of them were surprised when a yellow flash appeared in front of Kushina who vanished from the spot and was saved from the attack.

"**Impossible!**" Kyuubi said as he began to look around for his prey. He's lack of concentration on Naruto gave him the time to parry the tail trying to kill him and escape. He too was looking for his mother when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

Naruto turned around and saw his mother whose face was just as shocked as his own at the man standing beside her. It was her husband, he fourth Hokage and Konoha's yellow flash, Minato Namikaze.

"Hello Naruto." Minato said as he laid eyes on his adult son.

"Minato-kun." Kushina said in wonder. She couldn't believe that he was here.

"Kushina-chan it's good to see you. I've missed you so much." He said as he pulled his wife into his arms. The woman known as the "Red legion of death" began to weep in joy at being in her husband's arms again.

"Tou-san?" Naruto said, trying to get over his shock. The last time he'd seen his father was during the chunin exams when Orochimaru resurrected him and had him attack the village. He had little time to get to know him before Kakashi released his soul from Orochimaru's control. He'd never had a father and was unsure how to act.

"Tongue tied Naruto? And here I thought you had your mother's personality. Though your great looks obviously come from me." Minato said with a wide smile.

"And just what is that supposed to mean Mianto-kun?! Are you saying that if he had my red hair he wouldn't be as handsome?" Kushina said with fire in her eyes.

"Of course not Kushina-chan." Minato quickly said as he waved his hands in front of his wife trying to placate her. Both parents turned when they saw Naruto step towards his father until they were face to face. The resemblance was uncanny and if not for the whisker marks Naruto would be a miniature Minato clone. Minato once again placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and pulled him forward to hug his son for the first time.

"How?" Naruto asked still trying to understand how his father was here.

"I didn't just place Kushina-chan's remaining chakra into the seal when I formed it. I placed what was left of my own inside it as well until you needed me." He said as he pulled back. The reunited family all felt the immense killing intent from the demon behind them and turned to face him.

"**Fourth! You blond worm you dare interrupt my fight?!**" Kyuubi roared in rage at seeing the man that had sealed him away all those years ago.

"How's it going fuzzy. I see you're still as irritable as ever." Minato said with a smirk. All three dodged a strike from one of his tails.

"**This truly is my lucky day. Not only will I gain my freedom but I will once again kill you and your wife and all of these annoying pests that refuse to understand how weak they really are.**" The fox said as he saw all of the dragons get back up and move to stand beside the reunited family.

"You ready son?" Minato asked Naruto.

Naruto looked around him from his mother and father to all of the great dragons and despite the situation felt completely at ease. He didn't need to do everything himself as long as he had others that cared for him at his back helping him succeed. He turned a confident smile at the demon fox and brought his sword to bear.

"Let's go wild." He said as the two forces moved to conclude the fight.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 18 and I hope you like it. Next chapter will be the conclusion of not only this battle but the one that Yugito and Killer Bee find themselves in. Will those two survive or will they fall to the Akatsuki? To be perfectly honest I don't even know! That what makes this so fun!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!.**


	19. Chapter 19

**LND 19**

**(Mindscape)**

The newly reunited family as well as Naruto's dragon compatriots stood together before the mightiest of all the nine demon lords. Kyuubi seethed as every person that he detested was before him. He wanted nothing more than to wipe them all from existence.

"**So you appear to join in the slaughter Yondamie? Very well I will simply kill you and your wife a second time along with your brat's pets. After that I will take control of his body and the first thing I plan to do with my freedom is to destroy the village you gave so much to protect.**" Kyuubi growled.

"You sure are grouchy." Minato said nonchalantly as he began to move forward.

"Minato-kun?" Kushina spoke, questioning his intention.

"You've all fought pretty hard let me handle this for a bit and rest up." Minato said with a smirk.

"You do know what you're up against right?" Naruto asked his father, wondering if he got his stubbornness moreso from him then Kushina.

"Yep." Minato said as his smirk widened and be disappeared in a flash of yellow. He reappeared in front of Kyuubi uncaring of how close he was to the fox. Minato pulled out his favored tri pronged kunai and threw it into the air.

"**Shadow kunai jutsu!**" Minato called out as his one kunai multiplied into hundreds and scattered all throughout the battlefield.

"**Your father is crazier then you.**" Tetsuya said as she addressed Naruto.

"**Die!**" Kyuubi said as he slammed a tail down on Minato. He lifted the appendage and saw that he had missed. Minato was standing beside the tail, still looking completely unfazed by the fox. Kyuubi slashed with his claws and again failed to strike the former Hokage. Truly irritated now Kyuubi sent all nine tails after the man and could only look on as his anger continued to grow as he couldn't catch the slippery man.

"**Is running all you can do?!**" Kyuubi said.

"**Rasengan!**" Minato called out as he appeared and slammed the large ball of condensed chakra into Kyuubi's face. The blow was so quick and unexpected that Kyuubi was caught defenseless and was forced back a few steps.

"**Wow. I wonder why he wasn't given the sword instead.**" Tetsuya muttered. She felt the heat of a glare and found Naruto, Kushina and Drac giving her unamused stares. Vasuki looked exasperated at her and even Adalinda shook her head at her loud mouthed sister.

"**He's still a human and unworthy.**" Bahamut said with a snort.

"He's doing better than you did." Naruto said without looking at the still bitter dragon. The lightning dragon could only growl at the truth of that statement.

"**Despite this he cannot defeat the fox alone.**" Drac said. Minato was using his flying thunder God technique to avoid all of the Kyuubi's strikes but like Kushina only a small portion of his chakra had been placed in the seal when it was applied to Naruto and the more he used the quicker his time would run out and he was disappear completely to the afterlife.

"**Enough!**" Kyuubi growled as his body became covered in flames. Mianto was forced to back off and once again stood beside Kushina.

"You always did like to show off in front of me." The red haired woman said with a smirk. Minato grabbed his wife and kissed her deeply, making all watching feel a bit awkward.

"N-now's not the time for that!" Kushina said, her face as red as her hair. Naruto gave a chuckle at the scene but quickly stopped when he felt a wave of killing intent flow over them.

"**You believe this to be a joke? You think the emergence of yet another fool that I've killed before will in some way save your lives?**" Kyuubi snarled at the group that seemed to not be taking him seriously enough.

"Big talk considering this fool is the one that sealed the almighty nine tailed fox away in an infant." Minato said, his smirk never leaving his face.

Kyuubi roared in anger and rushed forward to attack. He was stopped by both Drac and Vasuki who used their combined powered to erect a wall of white hot flames in front of the fox obscuring his vision. As Kyuubi swiped a tail to disperse the flames he was met with a coordinated assault by Tetsuya and Kushina of all people. The red haired ninja had jumped onto the ice dragon's back and for once there was no voice of objection from the sacred beast. Kushina used her chains to wrap Kyuubu's tails up and Tetsuya immediately froze them all together. While the effect was sure to be short lived against the powerful demon it did its job in leaving the fox vulnerable.

Adalinda sent her tail, covered in water and in the shape of a giant blade, right at Kyuubi's chest. The fox ducked but the blade of water clipped an ear, much to his annoyance. He was unable to retaliate however and Naruto, who was now on Vasuki's head, attacked with his giant friend.

"**Wind style: Hurricane Gale!**" Naruto called out his strongest wind attack. Vasuki's gem glowed a bright green as he delved into his power and augmented Naruto's attack tenfold. The resulting attack was strong enough to lift Kyuubi off of his feet and send him hurtling towards Bahamut. The lightning dragon punched the fox to the ground and flew into the air calling down waves of lightning bolts to savagely strike down Kyuubi.

"**My power maybe diminished but never underestimate me fox**" Bahamut growled out as he let his attack end. As the resulting smoke from the assault began to disperse all nine of Kyuubi's tails broke free of their icy prison and flew out to attack. Their targets all avoided their strikes and were on guard as the tails returned to their owner who was slowly getting back to his feet.

Kyuubi was slowly but surely showing both his fatigue as well as his injuries. The fox was slow to get back to his feet and it was apparent that the last attack with its tails was more a desperate attempt to ensue another opponent wasn't close enough to attack then any sort of well planned strike.

"**You only delay the inevitable.**" Kyuubi growled out at the assorted group before him.

"Then prove it." Minato said without an ounce of fear in his voice. The fourth, like his family, was on the head of a dragon, Drac to be specific. Kyuubi moved to do just as Minato suggested only to find the teamwork of the ninja and dragons to be very troublesome indeed.

He moved against Minato and Drac first but both suddenly disappeared in a flash of yellow. Kyuubi was caught unprepared for the blast of fire enhanced by Minato's wind jutsu that hit him in the back. He turned to attack when Kushina and Tetsuya moved in from his blind spot. Ice spikes shot from the ground and skewered his paws holding him long enough for Kushina to send her chains to restrain his limbs. Kyuubi tried to break them quickly but found them far stronger then they had been a few minutes before. Unbeknownst to the fox Minato kissing Kushina served an additional role aside from showing his love and affection for his wife. He shared his chakra with her allowing her more time to aid them in battle and strengthening her chains.

Adalinda immediately struck. She turned the ice in Kyuubi's paws back into water and created blades that began to cut and slice away at his body. Naruto and Vasuki were next and both created hundreds of wind blades to rain down on the immobilized fox. Kyuubi could do nothing but roar in pain. Thinking quickly he stopped fighting the chains and instead sent his demonic chakra through them the two conflicting chakras deteriorated the chains fast enough for the fox to break them and retreat long enough to heal his injuries.

Bahamut was not about to let such a thing take place and moved against the fox. Dodging his tails the lightning dragon crashed on the fox's back and drove him to the ground. He called down a giant blast of energy that engulfed them both. Bahamut flew out of the resulting explosion with little damage, being largely immune to his own powers. Kyuubi was not so fortunate. The fox very slowly rose from the crater that was formed from the attack and was bleeding and had injuries covering his body.

"Give up Kyuubi. You can't defeat so many opponents that are working together." Naruto said as he and the others surrounded the great demon.

"**I finally have my freedom within grasp boy do you really think I'll let that slip away?**" He retorted.

"Freedom to do what exactly? Akatsuki is still out there and will stop at nothing to capture you. And if Madara Uchiha is still alive as I fear then he can subdue you without having to lift a finger." Minato cut in. Naruto looked to his father in slight confusion but he gave his son a look that told him he'd explain later.

"**I refuse to be used by that retched clan as their pet any longer! Nor will I consent to being locked away and having my power used without my say so. I won't be the Uchiha's weapon nor will I be yours.**" Kyuubi snarled.

"You won't be. You'll be exactly what you have been to me for years. A partner and friend." Naruto said as he jumped from Vasuki's back and walked towards the fox.

"You don't want our enemies to live anymore then I do so let's do this together like we always have." Naruto said to the fox, the look in his eyes giving Kyuubi a moment's pause. The fox could Naruto's parents in him. He could see the untamable fire of his mother and the unyielding resolve of his father. For a brief moment the nine tailed fox wonder if he could actually give his full trust and support to a human.

"**If there is one thing I have learned from you humans it's that your words carry very little weight. And words alone are not enough to gain my respect or my cooperation. Show me boy. Show me that you have what it takes to defeat all those that will stand against you in this life.**" Kyuubi said as he flared his chakra and blew Naruto back. Vasuki caught his friend and the others began to move in.

"If that's what it takes then so be it!" Naruto called out.

"**Attack!**" Bahamut shouted as he advanced before the others. He paid for this when a tail slapped him in the face.

He quickly recovered and shot a lightning bolt at the fox. Adalinda backed him up with a giant water ball and the two attacks combined and doubled the destructive power. Kyuubi blocked the ball with his tails and redirected it at Minato and Drac. The former Hokage used his signature technique to transport them behind Kyuubi and Drac hit him with a fire blast.

The attack angered Kyuubi more then it damaged him but as he turned his attention to them Kushina and Tetsuya struck from the side. As he son had done against Bahamut, Kushina used her chains to form a shield of sorts around herself and Tetsuya. The ice dragon rammed into Kyuubi's side, the combination of her own divine chakra with Kushina's made the attack much more damaging to the demon. Tetsuya drove him back then shot an ice beam directly in his face. Kyuubi set his entire body on fire to drive back the attackers as well as melt the ice that blinded him.

Naruto and Vasuki were on him immediately. The wind dragon sent down a tornado that swiftly raced towards the fox. With a chakra empowered roar Kyuubi dispersed the giant hindrance. The moment it was gone he found himself face to face with his container.

"**Dragon Strike!**" Naruto called out as the attack connected and drove Kyuubi back once again. Vasuki took the advantage of the opening and hit Kyuubi in the chest with a blast of wind pushing him back even more.

"He's losing ground. It seems even the great Kyuubi can only fight off so many opponents for so long." Minato stated, a small note of respect in his tone at the tenacity of the fox. His eyes narrowed as he felt Kyuubi summoned up a concentrated amount of demonic chakra and form it in his mouth.

"Move back!" Naruto called out, recognizing the red glow.

"**Demon's Bane!**" Kyuubi called out as he shot the beam of red yoki right at Kushina and Tetsuya. The two combined their powers to form a giant chakra enhanced wall but the attack tore through with little resistance. Tetsuya was just able to avoid taking the full brunt of the attack but one of her wings was deeply wounded and she fell to the ground.

Naruto and Vasuki moved to defend before they realized Kyuubi was not done. The fox created the beam again and turned to assault the rest of his enemies. Naruto and Vasuki were able to avoid the blast but the Adalinda was not as fortunate. Only being able to submerge herself in water was not enough as the beam of chakra blasted through her side. Minato and Drac were next to be targeted but Minato signature jutsu made hitting them all but impossible, thus Kyuubi sent the attack Bahamut. Not to be outdone the lightning dragon gathered his own reserves of chakra and sent a beam of electricity to counter Kyuubi's attack. The two conflicting forces battled against one another for a moment before both exploded shaking the mindscape.

Minato and Drac moved to aid Kushina and Tetsuya when Drac suddenly threw the former kage off of him just in time for Minato to avoid being hit with a tail that was aimed at him. However Drac was unable to stop the second one that was wrapped around his throat. Minato landed on the ground and felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Kushina and she pointed beside Drac at the unspoken question he had about Tetsuya. He turned and saw that the ice dragon was also held beside her brother with a tail around her neck.

"**Release them!**" Bahamut said appearing through the smoke caused by their previous clash of chakras.

"**Gladly.**" Kyuubi said as he threw them at Bahamut. The lightning dragon couldn't stop his momentum and he crashed into his siblings causing all three to fall to the ground. With Adalinda still down this left only Vasuki able to stand with the Namikaze family for the moment.

Kyuubi leapt at the three downed dragons until he felt his limbs being restrained by Kushina's chains. Vasuki created a tornado under Kyuubi, launching the fox into the air. Kyuubi righted himself and quickly formed a giant ball of youki. He shot the attack down at Vasuki's siblings.

Vasuki jumped between them with Naruto and Kushina. All three used their divine/special chakras to form a large barrier. The demonic attack slammed into their shield and began to break through. Minato swiftly jumped up and used his time space jutsu to warp the attack from them and had it reappear behind Kyuubi. The fox cried out in pain and rage at the blow and was sent crashing to the ground.

Vasuki fell to one knee in exhaustion and the Namikaze family wasn't much better off. Kyuubi got back to his feet and growled in pain. Having his own attack hit him was both painful and humiliating and he felt his hatred for Minato ever increase.

"**I'm going to kill you just like I did before.**" He said as he began to charge another giant beast ball. Bahamut, Tetsuya, Drac and Adalinda slowly regained consciousness and saw the danger they were all in.

"Get ready!"

Kyuubi unleashed the blast and the dragons scrambled to counter. Minato grabbed his family and teleported out of the way and the dragons all moved to avoid the attack. Kyuubi detonated the giant ball of yoki causing a shockwave that threw every in different directions, just as Kyuubi desired.

Adalinda was the first he went after as he leapt at her, knowing she only had a relatively small area to move in. The water dragon was not one to back down however and she sent a giant wave of water at him. Kyuubi engulfed his body in red of flames and went straight through the water creating a large cloud of steam to cloud their vision. Adalinda dove under water going on the defensive.

Kyuubi was not going to let her get away however. He quickly jumped up and sent a white hot stream of fire into the large body of water. So great was the heat that it actually started boiling the lake. Adalinda had no choice but to surface and when she did Kyuubi wrapped a tail around her neck, pulled her out of her self-made lake and pummeled her with his remaining tails until she stopped moving. He let her drop back into the lake, she didn't resurface.

"**One down**." Kyuubi snarled as he swiftly jumped over the blast of ice that Tetsuya sent his way in rage.

"**Kyuubi!**" She shouted as she sent attack after attack at him.

He shrugged them off with ease and slashed her across her chest leaving 4 deep wounds that began to bleed. Kyuubi wrapped his tails around her wings and slammed her to the ground. She weakly tried to rise and Kyuubi slammed a paw on her head. Tetsuya didn't move again and he stepped over her to see that the others had regrouped separately. Bahamut and Vasuki were together while Drac stood with the Namikaze family.

'**A two pronged attack? Useless.**' The giant demon thought to himself as he implemented his own plan of attack.

Bahamut and Vasuki attacked together and Kyuubi sent out his tails to skewer them. The dragons weaved their way through the deadly appendages and were on Kyuubi in mere seconds. Bahamut tackled the fox away from Tetsuya and punched him in the face. Bahamut didn't let up as Vasuki checked on his downed siblings. The lightning dragon blasted Kyuubi with a lightning bolt getting an outcry of pain from his opponent.

"**This is the day you fall once and for all fox.**" Bahamut snarled. He was answered with a deep chuckling from the nine tailed fox.

"**Is that so? You must truly be as foolish as you look to believe that. Your last few attacks barely tickled. Is that all you have remaining?**" Kyuubi taunted the giant beast. The enraged snarl he heard let him know his words had hit their mark.

Kyuubi opened his mouth and once again began to gather a large amount of demonic chakra in the form of a large red orb. Knowing full well what was about to occur Bahamut was prepared and jumped fly up just as Kyuubi unleashed the potent ball of chakra.

"**Do you care so little for your family?**' Kyuubi said. Bahamut turned and saw the orb fast approaching Vasuki whose attention was on Tetsuya. The wind dragon was not prepared for the coming attack nor did he have enough time to save both himself and Tetsuya.

Bahamut moved faster than he could ever remember and appeared in front of the attack. Using all of his remaining energy he formed an energy shield around his body and with his arms out stretched, took on the attack head on. Bahamut refused to give an inch as the giant ball of yoki attempted to push him back into his siblings and with a mighty roar he redirected the crimson orb up in the sky as it detonated causing a large explosion.

"**Brother.**" Vasuki said lowly as he observed the critically injured Bahamut. He had put everything he had into that last desperate defense of his family and had nothing else to give. Bahamut fell to the ground unconscious.

"**Three down**. **And my biggest threat is now gone.**" Kyuubi said.

He took a moment to relish the defeat of his oldest enemy. Until human's had developed the ability to suppress/control his kind it had been the dragons that Kami sent to keep the demons run running amok and wiping out the young species. Bahamut had at all times been the one to stop Kyuubi from going too far and neither had ever claimed a definitive victory over the other. Normally they caused enough destruction to level everything in a couple of miles then retreated to their respective corners so to speak.

His moment quickly ended with Vasuki was on him. The wind dragon began to shoot giant compressed balls of air at the fox which were troublesome to deal with. If struck by one of his tails or paws the balls would erupt sending out mini blades of wind, however if he did nothing the damage sustained from taking a direct shot was even more painful.

"**You only delay the inevitable lizard.**" Kyuubi said.

"**We'll see.**" Vasuki replied as he fly above Kyuubi and began to gather his remaining energy.

"**That didn't work for Bahamut and it won't work for you either!**" Kyuubi swaid as he charged another ball of yoki.

'**I have no plans to fight him directly.**' Vasuki thought to himself as he began to fly in a circle around the fox. Kyuubi was momentarily distracted by the tactic but quickly went back to charging his own attack. Had he been at full power it would have taken mere seconds but his injuries were greatly increasing the time it took to gather his remaining stores of energy. However by the time he had accomplished this he realized what Vasuki was doing. As the giant legendary beast was circling he was forming a giant tornado to completely encase Kyuubi. So thick was the cyclone that Kyuubi couldn't see out of it at where the dragon had gone.

'**No matter.**' Kyuubi thought to himself as he launched his ball of yoki at one of the walls containing him. He had expected the attack to burst straight through and even if it failed to hit Vasuki he thought it was disrupt the tornado. He was not expecting it to get caught in the storm and circle around until it hit him.

"**Don't waste your time fox. This is my ultimate attack and defense. Any attack you launch will be redirected back at you and the longer you stay in the confines of my tornado the more damage you'll endure.**" As he said this the tornado began to increase its intensity and Kyuubi was hard pressed to keep his grip on the ground and not get dragged into the storm.

"**An ultimate attack? I need do nothing but wait until you run out of energy and the storm passes. Or better yet why don't I just use my flames to turn this into a cyclone of fire!**" Kyuubi growled. He began to call upon the fires that were a part of his very being but found that the moment he formed them that they were snuffed out immediately. Adding on to this was that he noticed it was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

"**I'm sure by now you've noticed that my tornado is causing a vacuum effect where you are at. Any fire needs oxygen to live and it is quickly being sucked out. Also I'm pretty sure you need oxygen to breathe as well.**" Vasuki said cheekily.

Kyuubi was almost on his belly as the pressure from the vacuum and the lack of air slowly crippled his ability to move. He knew he had only a few minutes, at the most, to do something before he fell to the dragon. This thought sent waves of anger and rage through his body and he called upon a majority of his remaining chakra stores for a desperation attack. He charged with it and slammed into one of the sides of the tornado. Though he failed to penetrate initially he continued to move forward through the high speed winds. As he did this the tornado caused numerous slashes and cuts to appear all over his body and the pain was immense. Kyuubi used this pain to help fuel his attack and he could feel the tornado slowly begin to give way.

"**You're not getting out!**" Vasuki shouted as he appeared out of the tornado and grabbed Kyuubi by the face.

He slammed the fox face first into the walls of the cyclone and kept him there allowing his face to take the brunt of the damage from Vasuki's attack. For a few seconds Kyuubi was completely incapacitated. However he was not the mightiest of the demons for nothing and slowly began to fight back against Vasuki until he threw the dragon off of him and tackled him full force until both smashed through the tornado, dispersing the attack.

Kyuubi landed on top of Vasuki, whom had passed out immediately from chakra exhaustion and physical pain. He raised one paw and was prepared to pierce Vasuki's heart with his claws. He was stopped however by a blast of fire to the chest. He was thrown off of Vasuki and was very, very slow to get back up. He'd used pretty much all that he had to escape and found himself weaker then he could ever remember. Thankfully the only one standing between him and his freedom was an injured Drac, a chakra depleted Kushina and Minato, and Naruto.

"**It's over boy. You cannot win.**" He growled.

"That's big talk considering you're about to fall where you stand." Kushina taunted.

"**I still have more than enough power remaining to end all of you.**" Kyuubi said.

"**Aren't you forgetting someone?**" Drac said coming to stand between Kyuubi and the family.

"**No.**" Kyuubi said dismissively, clearly indicating just how much of a threat he considered Drac. While Drac may not have been as prideful as some of his siblings he was still a dragon and did not take kindly to being insulted by a demon of all things.

The fire dragon moved to show Kyuubi just how wrong he was. He sent out three large fire balls that Kyuubi batted aside with his tails. Drac moved in close and delivered a crushing blow to the face. He followed this up with a tail whip that took Kyuuib's legs from under him, downing the fox. Drac grabbed one of his tails and hurled the fox away.

"**Do you still believe me to be beneath your notice?**" Drac said with a smirk. He only heard a chuckle come from the fox.

"**Is that the best you can do? Your blows feel like they come from an ant. The humans have more power then you, you sad excuse for a firefly.**" Kyuubi taunted as he got up. Drac literally started seeing red.

"**I will show you the error in your words fox!**" Drac snarled as he began to glow a bright red. Drac was calling on the remaining reserves of his power. This would be his strongest, and last attack.

'**I hope you are ready Naruto. If I fall then the rest is up to you.'** Drac thought to himself as he unleashed an ocean of flames at Kyuubi.

Kyuubi ran towards the attack and was swept away in the attack. Not being foolish enough to think himself the victor Drac continued to pour more and more energy into the assault. He could sense Kyuubi somewhere in the waves of fire but couldn't tell exactly where. He got his answer when the fire that he produced began to swirl around the fox. As if yielding to a stronger master the flames were consumed by the fox until only he remained.

"**As I've stated before I am the lord of fire. You are several decades away from being at my level you immature snake.**" Kyuubi said as he rushed forward. Drac had no more energy to defend himself and Kyuubi ended the battle quickly. With two swipes of his claws he slashed Drac's face and chest and the last remaining dragon fell to the greatest of the demon lords.

"**No more distractions kit.**" Kyuubi said as he slowly walked over to the Namikaze family.

"You're not going to win this Kyuubi." Naruto said angrily as he looked at his downed allies.

"**Words mean nothing to me kit.**" Kyuubi said as he charged them. He stopped when all three disappeared in a flash of yellow.

"**Running away again? I have not time for this!**" Kyuubi snarled as he looked for them. He saw them a few meters behind him and again went to attack. Much to his chagrin they once again disappeared.

"**Are you a coward? I guess your little speech about fighting together truly meant nothing.**" Kyuubi said as they appeared again off to the side from him. Naruto looked to his parents and getting a nod from them both walked until he stood face to face with the fox.

"We weren't running. We were just finishing our plan." Naruto said as Kushina and Minato kneeled down and placed their hands on the ground.

"**Sealing art: demonic suppression**." They said as a special seal appeared beneath them.

The seal glowed brightly and a line of chakra shot from the seal and connected to another a few meters away. That seal glowed and shot its own line of chakra to another just like it. Kyuubi turned his head and saw that he and Naruto were in the center of a dome of chakra formed through five of special seals Kushina and Minato had created while he had been battling the dragons.

"**This is why you didn't help your pets. You were busy making this trap.**" Kyuubi said in surprise.

"We figured you'd be so focused on beating your long time enemies that you'd forget about us long enough to get this done." Naruto said confirming Kyuubi's comment.

Kyuubi fell to his knees as he felt his chakra being drained from him. Anything demonic chakra in the confines of this special five pointed seal would be drained away and it was doing its job perfectly.

"It's over Kyuubi. You don't have enough power to break out of this seal and soon enough you'll lose consciousness from having what little chakra you have left taken away." Naruto said.

"**Don't look down on me brat. I am the Kyuubi, the greatest of all demon lords! A single swipe of my tail can crush mountains! My roar alone causes earthquakes! I will not be bested by you so easily!**" Kyuubi roared as he forced himself to his feet and tried to strike Naruto with his claws. Naruto jumped back and drew his sword again.

"**Dragon Strike!**" he called out as he shot his dragon shaped blast of chakra at Kyuubi. The blast hit Kyuubi in the face and he toppled over. He would not stay down however and got to his feet anf sent his tails at Naruto.

Naruto began to dodge the limbs as quickly as he could. Thankfully the seal was still working and Kyuuib's attacks were sluggish and uncoordinated. Kyuubi knew he had little time left and was going for brute strength to end the battle instead of any sort of well thought out plan.

"**Shadow clone jutsu!**" Naruto called out as he created fifty clones. The clones moved to block and deflect the tails as the real Naruto moved for Kyuubi's main body. Though the clones were mostly fodder compared to Kyuubi they at least bought him enough time to get close enough to the fox to hit him again with a dragon strike to the face.

Kyuubi roared and the shot wave pushed Naruto back and dispersed his clones. He looked up and saw Kyuubi pouncing for him, seeking to crush him under foot.

"**Piercing shadow jutsu**!" Naruto signed as he and Kyuubi disappeared into a large dome of total blackness.

Kyuubi landed on nothing and growled as he tried to use his senses to find Naruto. Time was running out and he was feeling very dizzy and unstable it would be only a minute or so longer before he wouldn't be able to move at all and Naruto would be the victor. That he could even fight at all with this injuries and exhaustion in the seal was a testament of his power as the greatest of the nine demons.

However Kyuubi could not find Naruto. He was totally blind and unable to use his yoki to enhance his senses due to the seal. Naruto did not have this handicap and he attacked Kyuubi from various random directions. It was obvious that Naruto had created more clones, further confusing Kyuubi's already useless senses, and was using them to great effect. Oh Kyuubi was sure his crushed a few with lucky swipes from his tails and claws but it was a losing battle and he knew it. He felt utter dred when as one he heard what could only be dozens, if not one hundred, Naruto's calling out their strongest divine attack.

"**Dragon storm!**"

Kyuubi was hit by more attacks then he could count and could only roar in pain and anger as they rained down upon him from every direction. He was completely helpless and it wasn't long before he heard what he knew was the end of his chance for freedom.

"**Fuuton rasengan!**"

Kyuubi felt the wind and divine empowered rasengan slam into his chest and the resulting pain of feeling millions of miniature wind blades cutting into his body was too much. He fell to the ground and couldn't find the power to rise again. Naruto canceled the piercing shadow jutsu and dispersed his clones. He too was very exhausted from the battle. Minato and Kushina deactivated the five pointed demonic suppression seal and walked to stand beside their son.

"It's over Kyuubi. Accept defeat." Kushina said, her tone seriously and lacking her usual nickname for the fox.

"**Defeated again by mere mortals. How sad.**" Kyuubi muttered to himself.

"No you were defeated by teamwork and a will to never give in. There is no shame in that." Minato said to the fox.

"My offer still stands. Will you fight with me in the coming battles with Akatsuki?" Naruto asked as he stood before him.

Kyuubi said nothing as his large crimson eye stared at Naruto and suddenly lashed out with his claws. Naruto didn't flinch as a tip of the claw stopped right in front of his face. Kushina and Minato slowly prepared themselves in case Kyuubi was indeed going to continue to fight, no matter how futile that would be on his part. The relaxed when they heard Kyuubi start to chuckle.

"**Not even a flinch. You've found your resolve again haven't you Naruto?**" Kyuubi said softly as he pulled his arm back.

"Yes I have and you know what happens to anything that tries to stop me from achieving my goals." Naruto said confidently.

"**Very well then. One thing though from now on call me by my real name, Kurama.**" Kyuubi said before he passed out. Suddenly the mindscape began to shift and change as giant golden bars rose from the ground and circled around Kyuubi. A new and more powerful spiral seal appeared on the giant gate.

The Namikaze family stared at it for only a moment before they remembered their fallen allies. They quickly went to the dragons to assess the damage. Though they were all severely hurt none seemed to be mortally wounded which was both a relief and a surprise.

'I wonder why he didn't kill them?' Naruto thought to himself.

"Maybe you passed his test as well Naru-chan." Kushina said as she stood beside him. Minato seemed to agree as he too noticed that while Kyuubi had pulled no punches he hadn't killed the dragons when he had his chances.

"Some test." Naruto muttered as he saw all of the dragons glow brightly before they were returned to their own plane.

'Thank you my friends. Get a good rest, you've earned it.' Naruto thought as they vanished.

Naruto then felt a wealth of power come upon him. He cried out in pain and he fell to his knees. His parents walked up to him, knowing what was happening to him and understanding that he had to suffer through this himself. The pain wouldn't be as bad except that he still had lingering bit of divine chakra in his system.

A yellow colored chakra shroud surrounded Naruto and he had six magatama around his neck and two distinctive pieces of hair-like horns along with a swirl design that resembled the Uzumaki's clan symbol. The color of his eyes turned from blue to orange. Minato and Kushina could feel that his chakra signature had changed as well.

Naruto stood to his feet and looked at his own hands as if seeing them for the first time. The power that was circulating through his body was similar to when he used Kurama's power for all these years but the feeling was different. Whereas before using Kurama's power was like a burning wildfire burning through him, threatening to consume him from the inside out, now it still felt like he was holding a fire inside his body but the flames were calmer and not so violent. It was a strange but welcome sensation for him.

"Congratulations son." Minato said as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Kushina pulled him into a big hug and the three enjoyed a brief moment of peace. Naruto stood back from them and was alarmed to see that they were beginning to fade away.

"Sorry Naruto-kun. We used up all of our remaining chakra on that seal to subdue Kurama. I'm afraid this is goodbye." Kushina said with tears in her eyes.

"There's still so much I want to say." Naruto said but finding himself at a loss even knowing that this would be the last time he'd be able to talk with his parents until he time to leave the world of the living was up.

"As do we but for now just know that we love you with all of our hearts and that we'll always be with you." Minato said understanding Naruto's reluctance to see this reunion end. Minato quickly began to tell Naruto the full extent of what happened the day of his birth, from Kushina going into labor to then getting kidnapped by who he believed to be Madara Uchiha and finally to Kyuubi being released and both he and Kushina sealing him inside of Naruto at the cost of their lives.

"Do you think I'm ready?" Naruto asked them after absorbing all his father had to say.

They knew he was talking about everything that was to come. It was hard to believe that a young man who only had just turned seventeen had the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was almost a burden that was too much to ask but they knew he wouldn't fail. He was the perfect blind of them. He had Minato's indomitable will with Kushina's unstoppable determination. They knew that he could do it. They had given their lives for their son, their future and they knew that they hadn't made a mistake. It was a sacrifice they'd make every single time again.

All three came together for a group hug and stayed that way until Minato and Kushina vanished, their spirits finally moving on to the afterlife. Naruto wiped his eyes of the tears that had formed and while sad he also felt another weight lift off of his shoulders. He was loved by his parents and had been given an opportunity to speak to them one final time.

'It's time to go back and let Hinata-chan and Ero-sennin know that I won. We have unfinished business with some Akatsuki.' Naruto thought as his eyes hardened at the thought of the man that had cuased he and his friends so much pain.

**(Real world)**

Jiraiya and Hinata waited anxiously for Naruto to awaken. It had been a bit nerve racking for a while as his body began to give off more and more demonic chakra as a sign that Kyuubi was winning their battle. However in the end the victor was all but assured as Hinata's own divine chakra could sense the total subjugation of the Kyuubi's power. So while it was no great surprise when the eyes that opened to greet hers were the deep blue that she so loved instead of the crimson red of the fox's, she was happy none the less and almost tackled him with a fierce hug and kiss once the seal holding him was released.

"So you won. Not bad brat." Jiraiya said with a smirk as he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder in congradulations.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Naruto responded with a smile of his own.

"Yes." Jiraiya said truthfully, much to the chagrin of Naruto. Hinata found this very funny as did the toad sages Shima and Fukasaku. The two toads jumped on Jiraiya's shoulders and observed the young ninja.

"He really is Minato's son isn't he?" Fukasaku said with a nod of his head.

"He's so talented for someone so young. He's much farther along then you were Jiraiya-chan. To defeat the Kyuubi alone is something truly impressive." Shima said to the irritated Jiraiya.

"I didn't win by myself. I had the aid of the dragons as well as my mother and father." Naruto said, surprising all of them.

"Minato and Kushina? How'd that happen?" Jiraiya asked, though he could guess.

"My father not only sealed a part of my mother's chakra and soul into the seal but a pieced of himself as well. It was nice to finally get a chance to say goodbye to them." Naruto said with a small smile and faraway look in his eyes.

'He's made peace with that part of his life. That's good because it's going to get a lot harder from here on.' Jiraiya thought as he brought to their attention a pressing concern.

"So are you both ready to face the Akatsuki?" Jiraiya asked darkly. Naruto responded by calling forth his new fully control demon's cloak. The appearance of it was a surprise to them all not only because of the look but the feel of the chakra.

"There's no malice at all in that chakra." Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan and stretched out with her divine powers to get a better feel for it.

While it was still demonic chakra it held none of the negative emotions that normally accompanied the usage of it. She raised her hand and laid it gently on his shoulder and was surprised at the sensation that she felt. Normally whenever demonic and divine chakra came into contact with one another the resulting reaction was very violent, to say the least. And while she still felt a slight irritating feeling it was like comparing an itch to having acid poured on your skin.

"Can you use both of your powers at once?" Jiraiya asked very intrigued as well. Naruto grabbed his sword and tried to call upon the power of the dragons but immediately felt the sword deny his request. While odd he read the message loud and clear.

"No it still doesn't work like that. I have complete control over Kurama's chakra but it's still like trying to combine water and oil at the same time. They're too different." Naruto said.

"Well it was worth a shot." Jirayia said with a sigh.

"So are we ready to go?" Naruto asked as he grabbed Hinata's hand and deactivated his chakra cloak.

"What a minute Naruto. Are you sure that you are ready to use that power?" Jiraiya asked after taking a second to think.

"What do you mean? It's the same power as before just fully under my control it can't be that much different." Naruto said dismissively.

"Humor me for a second will you. Activate it and have it spar with one of my shadow clones." Jiraiya said as he created a single clone. Naruto activated his new cloak of demonic chakra and moved to battle Jiraiya's clone.

They all realized that Jiraiya's concern was warranted when Naruto disappeared from sight and crashed into one of the walls of the cave. The speed he moved that was so fast that they all lost sight of him, however it was also so fast that Naruto had no control over it.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Naruto shouted in anger. He calmed himself down and walked up to Jiraiya's clone. He fell into his true dragon taijutsu style and Jiraiya moved to defend in his toad style.

Jiraiya's clone threw a punch and Naruto moved to block. He was able to do so with ease and he hardly felt the impact at all. Naruto moved to counter attack, something he'd done so often over the years that it was second nature. However when he sent a high kick towards Jiraiya's head his kick smashed the clone in an instant however the force behind the blow spun him around and he lost his balance and ended up in the ground.

"As I thought. You've got the power but not the control. This isn't like before Naruto where you were calling on small portions of Kyuubi's power. You have to learn to control the amount of power that you're using or you'll throw yourself off in the middle of a battle. Having all that strength and speed means nothing if you can't use it correctly." Jiraiya said grimly.

"Yeah I got that. We don't have time for this though. We've got to go." Naruto said in frustration.

"Yes you do. I'll advice you Naruto not to use this power until you have time to fully master it. It'll be more of a hindrance then a help in your coming battles." Jiraiya advised.

Naruto nodded in understanding though his face showed just how upset he was to have gone through so much only to find that his new power was all but useless at the present moment.

"Let's go back. We've got unfinished business to attend to." Naruto said darkly. Hinata stiffened at being reminded of their next mission and the normally gentle and kind spirit of the former Hyuga crackled with barely contained anger as well.

"See you later Naruto-chan, Hinata-chan!" Fukasaku said as he jumped off Jiraiya's shoulder and hopped over to them.

"You can come visit at any time. I'll make my famous cricket soup when you do." Shima said with a smile as she stood beside her husband. Naruto and Hinata turned a bit green at that thought and bowed quickly to cover up their obvious revulsion to the thought of eating anymore bugs.

"Thank you for all of your help." They said together.

"Such manners. I so wish that you two were toad sages instead." Fukasaku said much to Jiraiya's annoyance.

"Alright it's time to go." Jiraiya said as he angrily stomped away. He muttered to himself as he heard them all laughing behind his back.

**(Konoha)**

Shino tilted his head when he felt the reemergence of the two insects that Naruto and Hinata kept on themselves so he'd be aware of their location. They had returned and it seemed that they were successful in their endeavors.

'Not that I am surprised.' Shino thought to himself. He would give them a little while to go to their homes and prepare themselves for their next mission. Shino's hand clenched at the thought of the Akasuki member they were going to meet in battle soon.

"Shino-san?"

Shino turned to look at his daily sparring partner, Samui. The blonde cloud jonin had been kind enough to meet with him and help him train for the upcoming battle. Shino had been able to ask his father briefly for advice but the elder Aburame was called away on an important mission before Shino could ask for more instruction.

"Naruto and Hinata have returned." Shino said shortly.

"Then they have accomplished the goals they left to complete. I am not surprised. Anyone that would confront Raikage-sama in the manner that Usumaki-san did is not someone to be denied what they desire the most." Samui stated in an even tone.

"Indeed." Shino said as he turned to leave for the Aburame compound. He too needed to prepare his equipment as well as himself for the upcoming battle.

Samui fell in step beside him as they made their way to his home. Shino noticed the looks that they still garnered from the general populace of Konoha. The hidden leaf and hidden cloud villages had been at odds for years. To see a jonin from the cloudn village walking freely and without escort was still a strange sight to the civilians and even a few leaf shinobi would stop and give them a second glance.

Shino ignored this. As of yet they hadn't run across any problems and there was no harm as long as they were looking. That Shino had become something of a personal escort to Samui was also something he realized and again dismissed. While some of his comrades, Kiba in particular, had raised questions as to all the time the two had spent together Shino quickly shut such questions from his mind. He'd been very clear with the blonde where he stood with his feelings towards her and Haku and Samui would always confirm that his feelings were understood.

"Samui-san I thank you for all of the assistance that you've given me over these last few days. It was quite helpful." Shino said as they arrived at his compound.

"I was only aiding someone who has gained me respect Shino-san." She responded simply.

"Be that as it may your help was still much appreciated. I am in your debt." He said.

"You and your friends are going to attack two Akatsuki members who had no fear of attacking the Hidden Mist village and capturing their demon container. Normally I would say your mission was suicidal in nature." She said. Shino turned to look at her.

"But you don't feel that it is in this case?" Shino said.

"I have learned not to bet against you and your friends Shino-san. Also I have insurance that you will return." Samui said.

"And what is this insurance you speak of?" Shino asked.

"You said that I am in your debt correct?" She said with a raised eyebrow. Seeing Shino nod she continued.

"Then to fulfill your debt to me you must return alive and well. I will not be able to forgive you if you die without telling me goodbye." She said with a stony face.

For the first time since he discovered Haku's injury, Shino smiled.

"If there is one thing I've learned from Naruto it is that breaking a promise to a comrade is the worst sin we can commit as men. I will return and pay me debt." Shino said as he turned to enter his compound. He felt a feminine hand grab his shoulder and give a slight squeeze before departing.

Shino turned slightly and looked at the back of the hidden cloud ninja. He then cleared his thoughts had entered the Aburame compound. He had needed to be prepared for the coming battle and focused his mind of that singular task. Anything else was a distraction he couldn't afford to have.

**(Hokage's Office)**

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork when she heard the door open. She was well aware that Naruto had returned victorious over the Kyuubi as Jiraiya had sent he and Hinata home to get some rest and prepare to move out. He then came to her and after kissing her and making several perverted comments on how much he missed her he got serious and revealed everything.

'Naru-chan has complete access to the Kyuubi's chakra but still needs to learn to control it? Well they say nothing worth having comes easy.' She thought as Naruto and Hinata arrived together, refreshed and eager for their mission. Tsunade walked around her desk and gave both of them a big hug.

"Welcome back you two. You've had quite an experience Naruto." She said happily.

"Fighting Kurama and meeting both my parents at the same time? It was nothing." Naruto joked with a sinker.

"You seem to have so many interesting things happen around you Naruto. It's a shame I couldn't be there to witness it." Shino said as he entered the room.

"Good to see you to Shino." Naruto said, more then used to Shino's normal tone and demeanor.

"How have you been Shino." HInata asked, happy to see her friend and teammate again.

"I am well Hinata. I am also ready for our mission Hokage-sama." Shino said as he turned his attention to Tsunade.

All joking died down at that single comment as they all turned their thoughts to the upcoming battle. Naruto had defeated Kurama and had a new and improved seal in addition to having mastered the futon rasengan. He had met all of Tsunade's demands in regard to being ready for their next mission and it was time for them to set off.

"I'm sure I don't have to explain to you what is to come. Two of the Akatsuki are waiting for you in particular Naru-chan. That their newest member after the death of Sasori happens to be the same maniac that decimated a small village, and also attacked the Hidden Mist with his partner Deidara, formerly of the hidden rock village, is no coincidence. They are hoping to draw you out and use your emotions against you." Tsuande said. Seeing the look on all three of their faces she continued.

"No one knows this monster better then the three of you and I'm sure I don't have to say it but your mission is to kill the both of them and come back alive. Should you find any opportunity to bring one of them back alive for interrogation then that would be greatly beneficial to the village." Tsuande said. She saw them all look at one another before Shino responded to that statement.

"If there is a opening to capture Deidara we will do our best to do so." He said shortly.

'So no mercy or quarter for the other one? Not surprising but I hope they don't let their emotions get the better of them in this mission. That would be disastrous and exactly what the Akatsuki wants to happen.' She thought to herself.

"Go then and you all better come back alive!" Tsunade ordered. They all nodded and turned to leave.

"Don't worry Kaa-san. We've lost too many friends to that monster already. We'll return with whatever's left of him in a body bag." Naruto said without turning his head as they headed out.

Tsunade stood and walked to the large window in her office and gazed out over the village. She sent a silent prayer to kami that everything would work out alright.

**(Akatsuki position)**

"Man I'm bored." Deidara said as he relaxed on a tree limb. His partner was standing beneath him. The strange man hadn't moved from that position for hours and he stood there every day for the last few days waiting for their target.

"You know as much as I got upset with Sasori-sama with his idiotic ideas of what true art is at least he could talk, hn." Deidara muttered. He was beyond tired of the silent treatment that his partner had given him since the day they met. He wished the guy would do ro say something aside from shooting random burst of fire at his head!

"It's been days. How do we even know that the Nine tails' container is going to come? Maybe he's so afraid that he'll stay behind those big walls of theirs." Deidara said though he knew that wouldn't happen. If there was one thing they knew about Naruto from Itachi's data it was that he was never one to run from a fight, especially not from someone that had hurt his friends.

Also the fact that they hadn't run across a patrol in a while meant that Konoha was aware of their position and was simply waiting for something before moving on them.

'Well whatever, as long as I get to express my art sooner or later I'll be happy, hn. Besides we only need the Kyuubi brat alive. The others are fair game.' He thought. He looked down when he saw his partner straighten suddenly and take a few steps forward.

"What is it? Do you see something?" Deidara asked. His response was a blast of fire that made him fall out of his tree. He got up cursing his partner before he felt it to. There was a very powerful chakra coming towards them and it didn't take a genius to know that it was the Kyuubi's container.

'Time to play.' Deidara thought.

**(Team Eight)**

The moved as one through the woods. Their destination was only a few hours away with them moving at their top speed and they were in no mind to take it slow. They didn't talk to one another as there was no need to. They all knew their objective and were ready and willing to complete it.

'Time to put this rabid dog down.' Naruto thought.

'We'll avenge you Saya-chan.' Hinata thought to herself.

'It ends today.' Was running through Shino's mind.

They all kept running until eventually they came to a clearing and saw the two members of the Akatsuki waiting for them in the open. One of them was definitely Deidara as he was looking at the ones that stole the one tailed container from under his nose not too long ago with manic glee and rage. It was the other one that gave them pause. It was his deep red eyes and oppressive presence that gave him away.

"You're going to die today." Naruto said with a growl, his eyes totally on Flame.

"What am I chopped liver?!" Deidara said angrily noticing that the three leaf ninja had all of their attention focused on Flame, completely ignoring Deidara for the moment. Deidara was about to say more when he heard something that was both unfamiliar and deeply disturbing.

It was laughter.

The deep and soft laughter was coming from Flame and it began to climb until it roared across the clearing. As it died down the red eyed man stretched out it arms and called upon his power.

The clearing was rocked with a giant explosion of heat and flames that swept out to consume all in its path.

**(End)**

**Here's chapter 19. Sorry for the long wait but the anticipated battle is finally here. Deidara and Flame against Team Eight. **

**I'm going to have a lot of fun with the next few chapters so I hope you stay tuned and bare with me as I complete them as soon as possible.**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


	20. Chapter 20

**LND 20**

**(Battle field)**

"Nice save Shino." Naruto commented as team eight stood behind the giant earth wall Shino had erected to protect them from the fiery explosion of their opponent. Shino gave a short nod as they heard Deidara shouting at his partner.

"You idiot! Warn me before you do that. You almost hit me!" the bomb expert shouted in anger. Deidara never thought he'd miss Sasori and his inability to recognize true art but at least Sasori didn't try to kill him every few minutes.

"Hinata-chan are you sure about this?" Naruto asked his teammate.

"Hai. It's the best solution." She replied as Shino let the earth wall fall.

Hinata immediately brought forth her angelic chakra and formed her bow. She shot a chakra arrow at Deidara's head only for the blond to avoid the strike.

"Close but not close enough girl!" Deidara said as he opened his hands and revealed two clay birds. The small projectiles flew towards Hinata before a blast of fire destroyed them in mid air.

"What are you doing?!" Deidara shouted at his partner, though he received no response. Team eight was also surprised to their enemy fighting amongst one another but it did make their plan much easier to achieve. Simply put they planned to divide and conquer.

"It seems your partner doesn't want you to interfere. I feel the same so why don't we take our battle elsewhere?" Hinata said to the bomb maker.

"Sounds good to me. The farther away I am from this idiot the better. Try to keep up girl." Deidara said with a smirk. He took off farther into the distance.

Hinata turned to Shino and Naruto and after receiving a small nod from both went after Deidara. Flame let her go, his gaze never straying from the two in front of him. Naruto and Shino stared in the blood red eyes of a man that both felt nothing but contempt for.

Both were also remembering the words spoken to them by others.

**(Naruto Flashback)**

It was the night before Naruto, Hinata and Jiraiya were to return to Konoha. Hinata was peacefully asleep, unaware of the conversation between her boyfriend and his mentor.

"I'm going to kill him." Naruto said simply as he stared at Jiraiya.

"So you've said but have you thought about the consequences?" Jiraiya asked. Seeing Naruto's confusion he began to expound upon his statement.

"I see a lot of anger and hate within you Naruto. It's a look I know all too well from both my comrades and myself. I saw it often in the second great ninja war. That kind of anger and hate can fester in a person and warp whatever was good about them. Haven't you ever wondered why some of the most powerful Konoha shinobi seem to have some sort of eccentricity about them? Kakashi spends most of his time reading my glorious creations, Gai is self explanatory, Tsunade drinks enough sake in a day to put ten men under a table." Jiraiya said.

"And you're a super pervert." Naruto added only to see Jiraiya shake his head.

"No I've always been a super pervert. I have issues with remaining in the village for any prolonged length of time." The toad sage said.

"Pretty much all of these behaviors are coping mechanisms. War is hell Naruto. The things we've seen and sometimes had to do can drive men and women insane. I've seen it far more times then I wanted to. War breeds hate, despair, anger, bloodlust, and so many other dark emotions. If you can't control them in some way then you will be lost to them and find yourself nothing but a soulless monster." Jiraiya said with a pointed look at Naruto.

"You're afraid that I could become the demon that most of the village always believed me to be?" Naruto asked, a bit of anger in his tone at the unspoken accusation.

"No but I am afraid that when you kill out of anger and revenge that you'll find that a much easier path to walk then looking for alternate solutions to solve an issue." Jiraiya responded.

"You don't have to worry. I know full well that when this mission is over that I more than likely won't find any real solace for what happened. Saya will still be dead as will her mother and those villagers. Killing their killer won't bring them back. However I won't allow myself to fall into that darkness." Naruto said as he paused to look at Hinata's slumbering form.

"I know what that looks like. I saw it in Sasuke when he was unable to focus on anything but his lust for vengeance against his brother. He allowed the darkness to consume his heart and he turned into a monster just like Itachi. When he killed Hinata I gave into my hate and slaughtered Sasuke without any remorse. Do you know how I felt after I did that?" Naruto asked.

"Empty." Jiraiya said in a knowing tone with a nod of his head.

"Exactly. Hinata was still dead and nothing I could do to Sasuke was going to bring her back. I went on a rampage after Danzo and even after killing him the void in my heart would never be filled." Naruto said with a downcast, almost haunting, look on his face. Remembering those days few days was something he always made an effort to avoid. Hinata was alive once again and for that he thanked Kami every day.

"I know that I will still have to live with my failure to save Saya and her village as long as I live but I can at least eliminate their killer so no other village will have to suffer the same fate from him." Naruto said.

"Are you doing this for that reason or is revenge a larger factor." Jiraiya said. He saw Naruto look off for a while.

"I won't lie and say revenge doesn't have something to do with it. I want his head on a stick for what he did and that emotion won't leave but I won't let it control me. That's the best I can tell you." Naruto said as he turned to leave.

"That'll do Naruto." Jiraiya said to himself.

**(Shino flashback)**

Shibi Aburame watched as his son returned home from a long day of training with the Kumo representative Samui. His wife had expressed a lot of concern for their son after they discovered Haku's injury and the culprit responsible. Her concern only heightened when Shino told them outright that the Hokage had charged team eight to bring the ninja and his Akatsuki partner to their end.

"Shino I wish to speak with you." Shibi said as his son was walking past him.

"How may I assist you father?" Shino asked softly.

"Your mother is concerned about your next mission." Shibi responded.

"Are you going to tell me that I am acting irrational for an Aburame as other in our clan have claimed?" Shino asked seemingly without any emotion, though Shibi could read his son easily.

"An Aburame must keep control over their emotions at all times my son, this you know well. However few in our clan understand or remember the days of the great shinobi wars." The Aburame clan leader said.

"Few still remember those dark days and the kind of monsters that emerged from it. I have not forgotten." He continued.

"I have tried to rationalize my opponent's actions as our clan teaches but I find that I cannot do so. He did not kill them for food, money, power or any other discernible reason."Shino said after thinking on his father's words.

"Some men aren't looking for such things. There are some men who simply want to see the world burn." Shibi said as he placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"I won't tell you to decline this mission. I will only tell you to keep your mind clear for the safety of yourself and your team. Too many in our clan have foolishly come to believe that not feeling at all is the same as controlling our emotions. You are still human my son and can feel anger, pain, and hurt like everyone else. However never allow these emotions to control you." Shibi said as he walked away.

Shino looked at his father's retreating form and felt a wave of anxious leave his body. It felt good to have someone aside from his team that could understand what he was going through. With a new sense of purpose Shino went to his room to rest until tomorrow's training.

**(End flashback)**

Naruto and Shino looked at one another and began to implement their plan of attack. Their foe didn't seem to be in any rush to attack them strangely enough. He merely observed them as Shino hung back and Naruto moved to attack first.

'We'll handle this guy Hinata-chan, just come back to me alright.' He thought as he summoned a dozen clones.

**(A few meters away)**

Hinata kept her eyes focused on the fleeing Deidara until they exited the tree line into a open field. Hinata immediately stopped drawing Deidara's attention.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me that you're getting cold feet little girl." He taunted as he hovered above her.

Hinata didn't respond except to draw a kunai and throw it into the ground a few feet in front of her. A large explosion shook the area immediately afterwards. Deidara's smirk disappeared quickly and a scowl took its place.

"You must have forgotten about my Byakugan. I can see below the ground and I know that this field has mines just like that one throughout it. You made it too obvious when you came straight here." Hinata said calmly.

"Pretty smart. Maybe killing you will be more fun then I first thought. **Katsu!**" He said quickly. Hinata looked down and noticed a mine under her feet that was beginning to glow with charka.

'How did that get there?' She thought as she leapt away from the explosion.

"Since you can see them there's no reason not to move them around a bit." Deidara said as he concentrated on his explosive weapons.

Hinata's eyes revealed that the mines were indeed moving around. This would make her job much more difficult. As it stood she would have to fight Deidara while also keeping an eye out to ensure a mine didn't sneak up under her feet before exploding.

'I'll just have to take that option off of the table.' Hinata thought as she jumped into the air after Deidara. He quickly moved and laughed as she fell back to the ground.

"Not as smart as I thought you were I guess." Deidara sneered as he moved his mines into position. No matter where she fell he would have a mines waiting to kill her.

Hinata calmly formed her chakra bow and, now that the mines where in close proximity to one another, quickly fired arrow after arrow into the ground setting all of the mines off and causing a great explosion. She disappeared in the resulting dust cloud and Deidara cursed her as he lost track of her position.

Because of the smoke he didn't see the 3 chakra arrows coming until it was too late and his clay bird's wings were blown off. As the large mount fell Hinata appeared in through the dust with her twin daggers drawn. She put one through his heart and the other in his head for good measure but immediately realized that she had struck a mud clone instead of the real Akatsuki member. Thankfully her Byakugan alerted her to the danger from behind and she turned and kicked Deidara in the head sending him into the still lingering dust cloud below.

Unlike Hinata Deidara had no chance of hiding under the cover of the dust because of Hinata's eyes. She quickly followed after him, not wanting to give him any time or distance to mount a defense against her. Deidara cursed the fact that he was fighting a ninja that was able to see through the dust cloud they were in. Close combat was not his strength and he was knowledgeable enough about the Hyuga clan to know that fighting one up close was akin to suicide. He ducked as Hinata came up behind him and tried to strike him in the head with one of her daggers.

"Back off little girl." Deidara said as he opened his hand and threw a small insect bomb at the ground. Hinata jumped back as it exploded and as she looked through the dust she saw Deidara form another large clay bird and take to the sky once more.

'He's not getting away that easily.' Hinata thought as she prepared to mount a counterattack. Her attention was drawn to the ground as she noticed something under the ground coming towards her. Her eye showed her a large white clay snake coming but unfortunately she wasn't fast enough and the serpent shot from the ground and wrapped around her body.

"Got you!** Katsu!**" Deidara said as the snake exploded. He chuckled at having fooled the Hyuga.

Her eyes were powerful but Deidara was a fast study. While she could indeed see things underground she actually needed to look down for that to be true. She was so focused on him and the smaller insect bomb he threw at the ground she never noticed the snake he made with his other hand.

Deidara moved his blonde hair away from his left eye and used the scope there to see if he had finished her off. He gave a grunt of annoyance when he only saw her smoldering jacket lying on the ground. He wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice though. He moved higher into the air away from the lingering dust cloud. If she wanted to shoot those chakra arrows again he'd be ready for her.

He got his wish as Hinata sprinted through the dust into the open field. Aside from some light burns on her arms she appeared fine though she was done to her lavender under shirt after having to ditch her chunin jacket in the explosion.

"You're pretty persistent but I'm getting bored. Let's see you dodge this!" Deidara said with a smirk as he held up a small clay statue.

Hinata's clod ran cold as she recognized what he held in his hands. It was the same clay statue that Gaara informed them after his rescue that Diedara used to threaten the entire Sand village.

'He's going to use that here?! I guess he doesn't believe in overkill.' She thought as she quickly went through all of her options to avoid being disintegrated. Her time quickly ran out as Deidara dropped the statue and it quickly grew several sizes larger.

"So long little girl. You should feel proud that I'm showing you this level of my art!" Deidara said as he flew even higher into the air to avoid the coming explosion.

"**Kaiten!**" Hinata shouted having no other choice. She pumped as much of her divine chakra into the ultimate defense as she could and prayed for the best as the bomb landed.

The explosion shook the landscape and decimated everything for several meters away from the blast zone. Trees were incinerated, boulders blown away to nothing and grass razed to the ground. High above the mushroom cloud Deidara loudly laughed to himself at his apparent victory. That bomb was strong enough to wipe out a village. He had little doubt the girl was dead.

'Still maybe I can find an arm or leg somewhere to show the Kyuubi brat.' Deidara thought to himself as he moved his clay mount down to the giant crater below him.

Hinata slowly regained consciousness with a groan of pain as she looked around. Apparently her Kaiten was strong enough to keep her from getting killed but the force of the blast and throw her quite a distance from the center of the blast radius, which probably saved her life.

'I doubt many ninja could have survived that blast and Deidara probably believes this as well.' She thought as she slowly stood to her feet and took a quick assessment of herself. She had no major injuries aside from a very bad headache and possibly a cracked rib or two. She reactivated her Byakugan and saw Deidara was descending and apparently looking for her remains. Knowing that she had the element of surprise on her side, Hinata moved to attack.

Deidara flew a few feet off of the ground and after not seeing any remains of his victim assumed that there was nothing left to find. His feeling of triumph quickly disappeared when his mount was hit with several chakra arrows and was destroyed. As Deidara fell to the ground Hinata attacked him in mid air with her daggers.

'How could she have survived that blast?!' He thought with a snarl as he did his best to avoid a killing blow. Despite his best efforts, Hinata was a much better hand to hand fighter and Deidara found himself in quite a bit of pain as she inflicted small but painful wounds on his arms and torso. Deidara found an opening by spitting blood in Hinata's eyes. Momentarily blinded she halted her attack and Deidara kicked her away.

Hinata cleared her eyes and saw Deidara fleeing. She threw one of her daggers and struck him in the back. However her byakugan saw the buildup of chakra and knew that she had struck an explosive clay clone. As the clone exploded she walked up and retrieved her dagger. She searched for her opponent but couldn't find him.

'He couldn't have gotten far.' She thought as she slowly backed up while using her divine chakra to enhance her vision.

"Did you lose something girl!" Hinata looked up and saw Deidara standing on top of a giant clay dragon. Deidara opened his hands and sent down dozens of small clay insects.

Hinata did not want to use the kaiten again. While it was effective it also forced her to remain in one spot until she broke the protective chakra sphere. Deidara had already proven that he could create bomb strong enough if not to break the kaiten to at least disrupt it enough to make it a risk to use. The only reason this fight wasn't over when she'd lost consciousness earlier is because the force of the explosion blew her far enough away to recover before Deidara found her. So she decided to go a different route.

"**Protection of the 64 empty palms!**" Hinata called out as she formed small thin chakra blades and began to weave her arms in an intricate web that struck and destroyed the mini bombs coming at her.

She looked up just as Deidara had his clay dragon open its mouth and fire a smaller replicate of itself at her. She moved back but unlike his other bombs this one followed her. Hinata found herself on the run from the small clay dragon and tried to think of the best way out of her situation.

'I can't destroy it without it exploding and I'm too close to it right now to do it safely.' She thought as the dragon was in hot pursuit.

Deidara was watching all of these feeling very pleased with himself. The young Hyuga was dangerous up close and even from a distance with those chakra arrows she could fire but all he had to do was keep his distance and wear her down. Her defensive techniques were good enough to stop his art but he could tell it took a decent chunk of her chakra to keep using them and he had all day. As he watched his small clay dragon continue to chase her he decided to strike while she was still preoccupied. He looked at the tail of his dragon and made his decision.

The dragon was one of his strongest techniques as it could repair itself if it was damaged and didn't just explode as a result. However that regeneration was tied directly to its tail which was wear the extra clay was held. When he used it to form the smaller copy chasing Hinata he had to use about half of its tail. If he used more then there was a good chance that he wouldn't be able to have it regenerate itself due to a lack of remaining clay. Still, it was worth it in his mind to finish Hinata off, or at the very least incapacitate her. Deidara order his dragon to form another small clone of itself and sent the second deadly bomb after Hinata.

Hinata was still trying to avoid getting the dragon chasing her but her Byakugan detected the second dragon coming in a pincer type maneuver. If she didn't think of something fast then she was going to be hit from the front as well as the back.

'I have no choice.' She thought as she again pumped a very large amount of chakra into her body and began to spin.

"**Kaiten!**" she called out as the swirling orb of chakra actually glowed a bright white color, showing just how much of her divine chakra she was drawing upon for the technique.

The two dragon hit the defensive jutsu from both sides and the resulting explosion obscured Hinata from sight. Deidara began to laugh at the sight, very pleased that even with her precious Byakugan Hinata couldn't do anything but hide and pray for the best. Deidara had a severe hatred of dojutsu's ever since Itachi defeated him in the past and forced him to join the Akatsuki.

'Just wait Itachi. After this you're next.' The blonde missing ninja thought. Deidara could care less about the Leader or his plans for the tailed beast. Deidara wanted his shot at killing Itachi for retribution.

Deidara's thought on revenge ended when out of the dusk cloud 5 chakra arrows came for him. He moved to the side only to find that this was exactly what Hinata wanted. One of her daggers flew up and struck the wing of the dragon. Instead of slicing it off it stuck and Hinata connected a ling of chakra to the dagger and pulled herself up to land beside Deidara. She'd done this so quickly that Deidara was taken completely by surprise. Hinata struck him in the shoulder causing his left arm to go dead. Deidara quickly jumped off his dragon and tried to create space.

Expecting Deidara to detonate his dragon Hinata jumped after him. Surprisingly enough the dragon did not explode but flew down after Hinata. She turned in mid air and quickly decided on a different attack this time.

"**Eight trigrams:** **Empty palm!**" She thrust her arm forward and shot out a compressed ball of chakra. It hit the dragon and tore a hole in the middle of it. She once again was surprised to see that it didn't explode. Instead numerous spherical clay bombs dropped out of the hole she had blasted in it to land on the ground and bury themselves into the ground.

Hinata landed and immediately tried to find the mines. She could see where they had landed and for the moment they seemed to be stationary. Knowing that Deidara had to be the one to control them she focused on finding her foe. However Hinata went to one knee and coughed up blood. The last explosion from the clay dragons hadn't broken her kaiten but the concussive force was strong enough to damage her internally. Hinata had no choice but to find a place to hide and heal herself.

Meanwhile Deidara was hiding in one of the trees that were still standing from his earlier actions trying to regain feeling in his arm. The girls blow had disabled it completely and with one arm he wouldn't be able to mount a defensive against her, especially since his dragon was gone. That was one of his most powerful but also one of the most clay consuming techniques. He'd have to be careful how he rationed the rest of his clay or else he'd run out.

'She's tougher then I first thought. Still she can't have much energy left and once she runs out she's all mine, hn.' He thought to himself as he slowly felt his arm regain movement and feeling.

Hinata was also healing herself as best she could with her remaining chakra. She was running low and would have to be conservative in this final confrontation. She activated her byakugan and tried to pinpoint Deidara's location. She found him hiding a couple of meters away in the branches of a tree and he seemed to also be tending to his wounds. She needed to strike now.

Hinata moved from her hiding spot and ran towards Deidara's position. He still didn't seem to notice her approach and she was going to take full advantage of that. She however made the crucial mistake of not checking to see where the earlier mines had landed. When she saw Deidara move his hands into a known hand seal she felt time slow down as she looked down and saw she had run right into the field of mines. While she had healed herself Deidara had moved them and made the entire field between the two of them a mine field. The first exploded and threw her back into another and soon Hinata disappeared in the multiple explosions.

"Art is a blast." Deidara said from his perch in the tree.

**(Naruto and Shino)**

Naruto watched as another dozen of his clones were destroyed before they could even touch their foe. Flame hadn't actually moved from his earlier position yet. He was content to let off extreme level of heat and anything that got within a few feet was affected. In Naruto's case his clones simply weren't durable enough to handle it and he had tried from a few directions. The only way he was going to be able to fight this guy was up close and hope that his divine charka could protect him.

"Shino I'm going." Naruto said shortly as he drew his sword and called upon his divine chakra. Naruto was going into this battle a bit handicapped but he would make due.

None of his dragons were in any shape to help him. His ninjutsu was primarily wind based and that would only make Flame's attacks stronger so they were of no use to him as well. Finally while he could use his new bijuu chakra form he had no control over it and that could get him killed against such a dangerous opponent.

"Understood." Shino said as he stood back and waited. Naruto rushed forward and began with an attack.

"**Dragon Strike**!"

The golden dragon shaped blast of energy headed for Flame. The fire user raised his hand and shot a fire ball to intercept the resulting explosion shook the ground but didn't stop Naruto. The now golden haired chunin leapt through the smoke and moved to pierce the Akatsuki through the chest. Flame moved back and kicked out at Naruto. Naruto ducked under the blast of fire that came from Flame's foot at the move and tried to stay inside his defense.

Shino watched Naruto battle their foe and forced himself to stay put and keep his cool. He didn't like waiting but they had to stick to the plan, especially since it was one that he himself had thought up. Though that didn't mean he had to like it.

Naruto slashed his sword and nicked Flame across his chest. The opponent responded with a kick to the side that moved Naruto back a few feet. He looked down and saw that his clothing on that side were scorched off. Still he smiled at the cut on his foe's chest.

"First blood is mine freak." Naruto said. He didn't get a verbal response. In fact it seemed that Flame was unaware that he had been hit. He went on the attack and began hurling fireballs at Naruto.

'How can he do that without handseals?' Naruto thought grimly as he moved to dodge the coming projectiles.

Seeing that he was going to get closed in Naruto performed a substitution and avoid the attacks. He shot another dragon strike at Flame and saw a wall of fire rise up to block his attack. Flame followed this up by doing a sweeping kick and sending a wave of fire towards Naruto's legs. Naruto jumped high to avoid the blow and Flame followed. Naruto brought his blade up to guard against the fire cover fist that Flame sent towards him. Naruto blocked the blow with his sword but the force behind it threw him back. Naruto righted himself in midair and landed safely. He looked up and saw flame cover himself in fire and fly down for Naruto.

Naruto raised his right hand and focused his chakra into the rasengan. He jumped up to meet his foe in midair and ignoring the intense heat slammed the rasengan into Flame's chest. The ball of chakra drilled through the blaze of fire that was covering Flame like a shroud and connected with his chest. The force of the blow pushed them away from each other and both fell to the ground. Naruto landed on his feet. Flame smashed into the earth on his back.

Naruto removed his chunin vest and his cloak. Both had been badly damaged in his clash with Flame and were more scraps than anything else. The black dragon tattoo was easily visible and Naruto looked as Flame got to his feet as well. The rasengan had all but destroyed his Akatskui robe and Naruto looked at the heavily tattooed flesh of his enemy. Intricate black lines ran across his chest and up towards his face. Flame's bald head was also covered in black crisscrossing lines and his crimson red eyes stared at Naruto in manic glee.

'Who is this guy.' Naruto thought to himself. He didn't recognize him from the bingo books he'd borrowed from Kakashi and Kurenai-sensei so he wasn't a missing ninja. However Naruto found it hard to believe someone this strong would be able to fly under the radar of all of the major or minor villages until they had met on that fateful mission. Flame raised his arms and two swords of fire formed in his hands.

'That's Haku's technique!' Naruto thought to himself in anger at the reminded of his wounded friend in Konoha's hospital.

He had no more time to think on it as Flame dashed to him with his two swords made from his element. Naruto ducked under one slash and blocked another with his sword. Flame brought the other down to Nauto's legs and Naruto jumped over it. However he lost leverage with that move and Flame pressed forward toppling him over. Naruto landed on his back and moved his head to avoid getting a blade of fire through his skull. Seeing no other way out Naruto raised one hand and sent a burst of wind at Flame's chest. While it moved the man back enough for Naruto to get to his feet he saw that his wind had also strengthened the red aura that Flame kept around himself and used to heat the air and affect his opponents should they get too close.

Naruto was suddenly finding his breathes to be heavier and more labored. He'd been using his divine chakra cloak around himself to protect against such a thing but as the battle went on and he used more and more chakra it would begin to have an effect on him. Still it wasn't debilitating at the moment so he could and would fight on.

Naruto summoned three clones and sent them after Flame. The fire sword wielding ninja cut tow down in seconds and a third fell shortly after but they had served their purpose. Naruto used the smoke his clones gave off when they dispelled to mask his movements. He appeared in Flame's face and with a two hand grip brought his sword down at his head. Flame crossed his swords to block the blow. Naruto pushed as much power into his sword as he felt was safe and broke flame's swords. The broken blades of fire turned into smaller fire spikes and moved to skewer Naruto. He did a took superficial wounds to his arms and chest but was able to move back before taking any more significant damage, though he was getting truly pissed off.

'That was another of Haku's techniques.' Naruto thought in anger.

Shino was thinking the same thing as he watched the battle and his insects were reacting violently to his emotional state. He desperately wanted to join the battle but they had to stick with his plan. He would get his retribution soon enough.

Naruto calmed himself before he made a mistake. His opponent had already formed a large broad sword made of fire and taking a two handed grip of the construct moved to engage Naruto once again. They crossed blades with one another and Naruto again wished he had more at his disposal to fight with. However he more than anyone knew that complaining about your situation would solve nothing. Only actions could change things. Naruto jumped back suddenly and called out favored, if not often used, technique.

"**Dragon Storm!**" Naruto called out as he pointed his sword to the sky.

Flame looked up as a giant white colored dragon head of energy rained down towards him. Flame dispelled his sword and taking a strong stance on the ground raised both hands and unleashed a torrent of fire to counter the attack. The two met but Naruto's jutsu would not be denied and tearing through the fire slammed into the ground causing a large explosion.

Naruto didn't relax his guard at all and that proved to be fortuitous as Flame appeared through the dust cloud with his flaming sword ready to remove Naruto's head. Naruto blocked the blow and quickly formed a rasengan and slammed it into his chest pushing him back and dropping him to one knee.

"What's the matter? Not winning as easily as you thought you would?" Naruto taunted the downed man.

Naruto was expecting the usual smirk of disturbing laughter to come from his foe so he was surprised that when Flame raised his tattoo head his eyes were dark with hatred and a snarl was apparent on his face. It was unnerving but also a welcome sight to Naruto.

'I'm getting under his skin.' He thought with a smirk. He turned to look at Shino for a moment and seeing the Aburame nod knew that he too had caught the change in temperament of the man and that they were close to starting stage two of their plan.

Naruto turned back when he saw the red aura surrounding Flame begin to expand and contract with the man's deep and heavy breathing. Naruto could see the heat radiating off of the man. He felt a wave of oppressive heat fall upon him and he couldn't breathe anymore as he fell to one knee. Well aware of what was happening Naruto tapped into more of his divine chakra and got back to his feet. He still could feel the effects of the intense heat Flame was giving of but it was no longer debilitating.

Flame raised his hand and shot a giant blast of fire at Naruto. Naruto dodged to the side and raced forward Flame, hoping to close the distance. Flame continued shooting burst of fire at Naruto but the blonde pressed forward. Flame ducked under the sword strike and raising a hand caught Naruto right on the chest with a blast of fire that sent Naruto flying back. However Naruto's chakra protected him from the worst of it and he was still smiling.

'It's almost time. Just a little bit more.' He thought.

"Hey Kyuubi brat!"

Naruto turned at the sound of the voice and felt his heart stop in his chest. Just a few meters to his right was Deidara flying on a much smaller but still dangerous clay bird. However the thing that froze his blood was the bloodied and beaten form of Hinata in Deidara's arms.

"You want her? Come and get her!" Deidara cackled as he turned his mount and flew away.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted. He was instantly hit with a giant blast of fire. If not for the still present, but weakening, shield of divine chakra around his body that hit would have crippled him. Naruto got up and turned to glare at Flame but the fire based enemy had made no reaction to Deidara's appearance and obviously wasn't about to let Naruto leave their battle. He raised his hands to unleash another torrent of fire only for a large wall of earth to spring from the ground and stop the attack.

"Naruto go after Hinata." Shino said as he came to stand beside his friend.

"What about the plan?" Naruto asked. It took more control then he thought he had to wait but he couldn't in good conscience leave Shino alone for fight Flame.

"Plans change. I will deal with the monster before us. You go and save Hinata." Shino said not turning his head from his goal. Naruto nodded shortly and took off after Deidara.

Shino didn't have to wait long before he saw the middle of his earth wall glow a bright orange. No more than a second later the wall broke as Shino was forced to jump to the side or be hit by the wave of fire that swept his defensive jutsu away.

"I am your opponent now." Shino said softly as he removed his glasses. It was time to implement the final stage of his plan. He just hoped he walked away from it alive. Flame looked at Shino for only a moment before turning his back and began following Naruto. He was stopped when another large mud wall cut him off. He turned to glare at Shino only to see the Aburame focused on creating another wall to connect with the first. Two more shot from the ground and all four connected to enclose Flame in a box.

"I already told you that I am your opponent. If you are in such a rush to finish your battle with Naruto then kill me quickly if you can." Shino said as he looked at the giant trap he had caught Flame in. as expected he saw, and felt the buildup of fire as it began to gather more and more strength to break him out of his prison.

'As expected.' Shino thought as finally a wave of fire broke through the four earth walls and revealed the bane of the Shino's existence.

"Come." Shino said as he moved back to avoid a fire ball. He now had Flame's full attention and the scowl on the evil man's face let Shino know that he also had his wrath as well.

Meanwhile Naruto pushed himself as much as he could to catch up to the fleeing Deidara and the captive Hinata.

"Get back here!" Naruto shouted as he kept his eyes on Deidara. He would soon regret that decision as he stepped on a patch of earth that suddenly swelled and Naruto was blown back from the mine he'd stepped on.

"I guess you're just as stupid as your little girlfriend brat!" Deidara laughed as he hovered above the smoke crater that his explosion left behind.

Naruto got up slowly and nearly fell back on his face. His right leg was badly burned from the explosion, though he was lucky it hadn't been blown completely off. As it was he couldn't use it effectively at the moment and he had no clue where the rest of the mines were at. He could be in the middle of them and would never know until he stepped on one.

"I'm surprised you're girlfriend is in one piece. She ran into a least half a dozen of my art before passing out." Deidara taunted Naruto as he grabbed Hinata by her long hair and dangled her in the air obviously threatening to let her drop and either die from the fall or from landing on one of the mines.

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" Naruto called out. He created dozens of clones that ran in all directions. One by one the clones set off the mines around Naruto in multiple explosions. The dust cloud that was kicked up was just the cover Naruto needed for his next move.

"**Wind slash Jutsu!" **Naruto called outas he slashed with his sword and sent a projectile of wind that blew the dust cloud up around Deidara. The former rock ninja released Hinata in a reflex as he raised his arms to cover his eyes and nose. Naruto jumped up and grabbed onto her and landed on his good leg.

"**Dragon strike!**" Naruto called out as she unleashed his attack with one arm. Deidara was able to avoid the attack and reached into his bag. He found that he was almost out of clay. He had to finish this now.

Naruto created a few clones to take Hinata to a safe place and to watch over her, just in case Deidara tried to recapture her or use her as a target. Naruto was not in great shape at the moment but neither was Deidara. He could tell that much from the way the man moved. Hinata had given him a good beating it seemed.

"Time to show you my best art boy." Deidara said as he jumped from his mount and sent the clay bird at Naruto.

"**Slicing Cyclone!**" Naruto called out as he thrust his hand forward and sent the small cyclone from his palm at the clay bird. The attack connected and forced the clay bomb to detonate safely away from Naruto though his sight was obscured by the dust that followed from the collision.

Naruto sent out another wind slash to disperse the hindrance and quickly found Deidara only a few feet behind him, trying to sneak up in his blind spot under the cover of the dust. Naruto threw his sword and embedded the blade in Deidara's chest. The Akatsuki member fell to his knees and clutched at the sword.

"Nice try but this battle is over." Naruto said as he limped over and pulled his sword out of Deidara's chest.

"Yes it is and you lose." Deidara smiled as he began to grow in size. Recognizing the familiar technique Naruto moved as fast as he was able over to Hinata. He had one of the clones that were guarding her to grab her and used the second to help him as they attempted to create as much separation between themselves and the coming explosion.

Naruto turned to look at the giant Deidara clone that continued to grow before it burst. However contrary to what Naruto was expecting the clone didn't explode. In fact he could see anything haven been affected at all.

'What's going on?' Naruto thought to himself.

"You ready to give up yet brat?" Deidara said as he appeared a few yards from him.

"You're last bomb was a dud and you want me to surrender?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He knew Deidara was a long ranger fighter and yet the man was only a few short feet away. Also he wasn't trying to defend himself nor was this one a clone if the ragged clothes and bruises to his body were any indication. For all appearances Deidara was defenseless.

"A dud? How dare you insult my art! Let me show you just how powerless you really are." Deidara snarled as he made a hand sign.

Thinking that Deidara had snuck another mine under their feet, Naruto had his clones jump and take him and Hinata into the air. However the moment they jumped, both clones dissolved before his eyes. Naruto grabbed the falling Hinata and landed on his back, breaking her fall.

'What just happened?!' Naruto thought as he turned to stare at Deidara.

"My last attack wasn't a dud brat. It's my finest art. When my clone exploded it released millions of microscopic bombs that are even as we speak getting into your body. All I have to do to make sure you end up like your clones is to detonate them and watch you turn into dust from a molecular level. And that goes double for your girlfriend there. How would you liked to watch her be taken apart atom by atom?" Deidara said with a crazed smirk.

Naruto again felt his blood freeze as he looked down to the still unconscious Hinata. The image of watching her disintegrating in front of him was a nightmare he couldn't bear to dwell on. He'd already lost her once and refused to lose her again.

"Now then how should we do this? Should I blow off a leg or an arm and let you watch as I kill your little friend? Then again Leader-sama might want to know about her strange chakra and if we could use it or not." Deidara said as he weighed the options of killing Hinata or capturing her with Naruto.

"Hoe about neither! **Piercing Shadow jutsu!**" Naruto quickly called out as he formed the seals for one of his more powerful techniques. Deidara cursed as everything fell under a shroud of utter darkness.

"You think this will stop me!" He shouted, or at least thought he did. He tried to shout but found he couldn't hear his own voice. Also he fell to his knees as his sense of balance and direction left him.

'What kind of technique is this?!' he thought to himself.

"**Rasengan!**"

Deidara felt a wave of pain flow from his chest and gave a cry of pain as the darkness lifted and he flew away from Naruto who had quickly formed and used his signature technique on the blond missing ninja. Deidara smashed into a tree and coughed up blood from his internal injuries. He focused on Naruto, who while still limping was moving in his direction and quickly formed a handsign.

"**Katsu!**" he shouted as Naruto coughed up blood and fell to his knees.

"I may not be allow to kill you but I think some damage to your organs is fair game don't you?" he hissed as he slowly got to his feet.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Deidara and Naruto turned to see Hinata slowly regain consciousness and unsteadily get to her feet. Seeing the position Naruto was in Hinata raised her good arm and began to channel chakra into it.

"**Gentle step: Twin Lion fists jutsu!**" she said as the shroud of chakra around her hand took the form of a lion's head.

"Good luck using that girl. Time to die!" Deidara shouted as he formed his hand sign.

"NO!" Naruto shouted as he tried to get to his feet but knew he would be too slow.

"**Katsu!**" Deidara shouted as Hinata dashed towards him.

Expecting to hear her cry as well as see her disintegrate, Deidara was quite surprised when neither of these things occurred and she took advantage of his lowered defenses to slam her chakra encased fist into his chest. Deidara's chest caved in and with a final cry of disbelief the life faded from his eyes and he slumped over.

Pushing his body off of her Hinata limped over to Naruto and tried to heal him. She was quickly wrapped up in a bone crushing hug from her boyfriend and gave a moan of pain causing him to pull back with a wince of his own.

"Hinata-chan how?" He asked both immensely relived she was alive but also confused at the fact as well.

"I woke up when you had your clones move me away from your battle. I was able to hear what he said about the bombs and cleared my body of them. The Byakugan made it easy to see them and it was simple enough to use my chakra to destroy them. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do the same for you earlier." She said as she slowly cleared Naruto's body of the remaining bombs and helped heal his organs.

She knew she wouldn't have to do much. Their divine chakra would heal them, though it would take some time, but she wanted to ease his discomfort. Still both of them were in poor shape and wouldn't be of much use helping Shino.

"Wait, where is Shino?" Hinata asked. Seeing Naruto grimace she feared the worse.

"He told me to save you while he finished the mission." Naruto said. Seeing the horror spreading across her face he knew she was just as concerned about their teammate as he was.

"Were you able to finish weakening him enough first?" Hinata asked as they leaned against one another and got to their feet.

"I hope so. It's up to Shino now." Naruto muttered as they slowly made their way back to their friend and teammate's position. Hoping against hope he was able to kill Flame or at least survive long enough for them to help any way they could.

**(With Shino)**

It was finally his time. Shino had been waiting for this battle ever since they failed to protect Saya and her village. Aburame's were said to feel nothing. That logic dictated everything they did. There were those in his clan who felt and acted the same. Shino could have become like them if not for his mother. The free spirited woman seemed completely different then her stoic husband and many in their clan were confused how they made their marriage work. Still from an early age she taught Shino it was alright to have and express emotions. Shino was unsure until he met his friends and teammates Naruto and Hinata. They were the first to befriend him and not think his insects were "icky". They like his mother taught him that emotions were what made them human and not robots or monsters.

'And as father stated it is fine to feel emotions, just beware lest they control you.' Shino thought as he jumped back from a fireball sent his way. This would be a crucial point to keep in mind in this battle. For his plan to succeed he'd have to have an iron clad hold over them. Rage and anger would only get him killed.

"**Earth style: stone spears jutsu**." Shino signed. Large spikes of earth came from the ground and rapidly approached Flame's position.

The fire user prepared to move to the side only to have two large earth wall appeared and block his path. Glaring at the Aburame who had quickly formed the earth walls he gathered his power and slammed a hand to the ground. A tower of fire encircled him and moving forward it halted Shino's attack. He then put out his arm and destroyed Shino's wall with two well placed bursts of fire.

Wanting to end his opponent, Flame quickly moved forward and closed in on Shino. Shino's brow immediately became wet with sweat and the smoldering aura that seemed to surround the man came over him. However it was not at debilitating at Shino had experienced in the past which was both helpful and telling. Shino avoided the fire encased fists that Fame sent his way until he was caught at the throat and raised in the air. Flame prepared to incinerate him until Shino burst into a clone of insects. The tiny warriors flew at Flame hoping to drain some of his chakra until they were destroyed by the Akatsuki member covering himself in fire.

Becoming more and more frustrated by his opponents insistence to avoid close combat the crimson eyes monster of a man looked around trying to pinpoint the elusive Aburame. His focus soon turned a few feet behind him as he saw Shino sitting on the ground concentrating heavily. He raised a and prepared to finally finish the battle until he felt a shaking of the ground. Slowly curved walls began to rise from the earth with a radius of a few meters. Flame looked up as the giant earth dome rose to the sky and eventually combined above his head sealing Shino and himself in and cutting off not only any outside interference but also the light of the sun.

'Time to finish this. Stage 2 is complete and now on to Stage 3.' Shino thought as he got to his feet though he kept his eyes closed.

Shino's plan had been fairly simple in nature but in execution he and his teammates knew a lot could go wrong. While Naruto and Hinata were with Jiraiya waiting for Naruto to finish his training in gaining control over the Kyuubi's power, Shino had been sparring with Samui every day to try and think of a way to take down their opponent.

At first the training made little, if any progress. Samui was well versed in lightning techniques and one of the stronger ninja in the Cloud village, as shown with her defeat of Kurenai. She attempted to simulate Flame's debilitating heat aura but sending out pulses of lightning while fighting Shino. The pulses were strong enough to stun but not cause serious damage. This was done to see if speed would be enough to beat Flame as Shino hoped that using such a technique must have a small window that he could exploit if he or his teammates were fast enough. Samui brought up that this was a flawed line of thought as she was using next to none of her chakra to keep the field up and from what Shino had told her it was unlikely that Flame was using anymore than she. Samui, in a moment of thoughtful clarity told Shino to stop thinking like his teammate Naruto whom was a more run straight into the action and use his power to make things happen and to instead use his mind to find a better solution.

Shino had thought long and hard and came to a solution with the simple knowledge of how fire worked. It needed and ignition source, Flame himself, some kind of material to be ignited which in this case of Flame's chakra and most importantly it needed air. Cut off a fire's air supply and you would no longer have a fire.

Shino placed a hand on the large earth dome that he had made and tried to gather himself for the fight to come. As an Aburame he never would have a large chakra supply as a majority of it went to feeding his insects. The earth walls and dome itself had almost depleted him. Still it was worth it. He saw light approaching his location and silently moved to avoid it. Flame had raised a hand and used the fire in it to see. Hiding in the shadows he watched Flame turn to attack the dome itself and sending two streams of fire to a spot trying to break through. Shino had little to fear this was no ordinary dome of chakra. It would repair itself and retain its shape for a long as Shino had enough chakra to keep it active and Flame no longer had the power to overwhelm it. That had been the point of stage two of his plan.

Stage 1 was to separate Deidara and Flame. The two of them had been strong enough to attack the Hidden Mist village and get away with Yagura. They would have no chance if the two worked in tandem to fight them. Hinata had been the one to volunteer to take on Deidara. Her Byakugan would aid her greatly in seeing his bombs and though she was a close range fighter she was the best choice.

Stage 2 was to weaken Flame by making him use up as much chakra as possible. For this they would need their most durable ninja in Naruto. Though he couldn't chance using his wind jutsu nor his new Kyuubi power, his divine chakra could protect him enough to take and give much damage as he could to wear him down. Had Naruto been strong enough to kill him one on one then that would have been all the better but they all knew that wasn't likely to happen. Once Shino felt that Flame was weakened enough they would move to stage 3. Things had been going smoothly, mostly, through the first two stages.

Stage 3 was where things began to fall apart. When Deidara appeared with a defeated Hinata Shino knew that the plan was about to take a detour. While he was unsure if Naruto had weakened Flame enough to Stage 3 he nevertheless sent the blond shinobi after their friend and teammate. No matter what the safety of his team was more important than the mission. Shino proceeded to begin Stage 3 which was to trap Flame in the earth dome weakened enough that he could blast through it easily. However Naruto was supposed to be in the dome with Shino and both, with Shino giving guidance as he could navigate in the dark, would take on Flame in the dome where there was a finite amount of air. Flame wouldn't be able to use his full power without quickly using up the rest of his air supply.

'Now it's just me. I'll have to make due.' Shino thought as he continued to silently move aware from the light that Flame was casting, attempting to his position. Shino was thankful for all the sparing he had had with Haku over the years. The young woman was a master of moving silently just as her father Zabuza had taught her. Shino had picked up it and given that he was already a pretty taciturn person by nature it made it all the easier to sneak up on unsuspecting enemies.

Shino quietly pulled out his kusarigama. He had to save his chakra as best he could. If it grew too low the dome would crumble and the plan would fail. Silently Shino began to spin the weight at the end of his weapon. As Flame's back was turned he swung and connected with the man's head sending him to the ground. Shino swiftly moved as the expected fire blast from Flame in the direction of the attack came. Shino moved closer and before Flame would turn slashed the man in the back.

With a roar of anger the Akatsuki member sent a burst of fire that caught Shino. The Aburame hissed at the burns and took off his coat that was still on fire. However this gave his position away and Flame was on him quickly. Shino took the next few precious seconds dodging and doing his best to avoid the grasp of his opponent. He knew very well what would happen should Flame get a hold of him. The fact that Flame was conserving his fire attacks told Shino all he needed to know about both the fatigue of his opponent along with the air that was burned up whenever he unleashed one. It was apparent that he had no desire to suffocate trying to kill Shino.

Shino swung his sickle and scratched Flame on the cheek. It wasn't a deep wound but it made the man hesitate long enough for Shino to create space and disappear into the darkness again. He controlled his breathing as best he could with his fresh wounds and exhaustion. He swung the weight and wrapped it around Flame's arm. Before the man could react Shino yanked him off balance and began moving forward. He was running low on chakra and wanted to end this before the dome lost its structural integrity and Flame escaped.

Shino was not expecting Flame to right himself quickly and grasp the end of the chain. He pulled Shino to him and raised a hand. A fireball appeared in the palm of his hand, smaller than normal but deadly nonetheless. Shino panicked for a split second longer then he should have and the fireball was already flying toward his chest. To Shino's surprise a large cloud of insects appeared before him and took the attack for him. Shino quickly used his blade to cut through the chain and moved away before Flame could follow up on his assault.

'Why? Why did they do that?' Shino wondered to himself.

The Aburame clan had a partnership with their insects true but it was one of simple give and take. The Aburames would give up a large portion of their chakra and the insects would in turn to the Aburame's bidding. However this normally had to be consciously done by the Aburame and Shino had not been ordering his insects to give up their life for his own. He considered them not only a partner but as friends and he'd never have sent them on a suicide mission if he could help it. They had sacrificed themselves for him on their own accord.

'Thank you my friends. Let us finish this.' Shino thought and felt a noticeable buzz of approval from his swarm. He was loathe to use more of his small supply of remaining chakra but he had little choice.

"**Aburame style: stinging death.**" Shino quietly signed. The long stinger appeared from his forearm and he readied himself.

Flame meanwhile had noticed the thinning air and knew he had to either escape or kill the Aburame, though he preferred to do both. He raised his hand and created enough light to see a few feet in front of him. The air supply was running out and he had to conserve his fire. He heard movement behind him and turned to shoot a small fireball. And the orb traveled it illuminated the darkness and Flame saw that the movement he heard was a swarm of insets.

The distraction worked as Flame felt a slash across his back again. He turned and struck but hit nothing. Putting up his guard he prepared himself for anything. He then felt something puncture his forearm, an attack meant to pierce his chest and heart. Understanding that the Aburame was close and obviously mounting his final assault Flame threw caution to the wind and sheathed his hands in fire. He saw the Aburame in front of him moving swiftly.

For the next minute or so Shino and Flame brawled in close quarters. Shino with his sickle and poisoned barb and Flame with his fists traded blow for blow. Shino did his best to make sure the hits he took were glancing but he still was taking more and more burns on his arms and chest. He was returning the favor however and Flame had been hit with his stinging death attack enough time that Shino was sure the man would start showing the affects of the poison soon. Along with that Flame had man cuts and gashes from Shino's blade. Despite the injuries both fighters refused to give an inch and continued to battle.

Shino began to feel dizzy and found his breathing was growing more and more labored. He was unsure if his lightheadedness was from the pain of lack of air. It was probably both. He saw Flame getting slower and slower both from the poison as well as the lack of air. It was a race to see who would succumb first. One of Flame's hands lost it fire and Shino's stinging death dispersed as well. Shino could fell the strain on his chakra and could also hear the shifting of the dome's walls as they weakened.

'I have to finish this now!' Shino thought as he slashed up to force Flame to again move away from him. Flame used his fist to knock the sickle away leaving Shino defenseless.

Shino turned to look as his weapon disappeared in the darkness. This proved costly as Flame sent a small burst of flame that hit Shino in the leg dropping him to his knees. Flame kicked Shino in the head and sent the Aburame to the ground. He reached down and grabbed Shino's left wrist at the same time as he stomped on his injured leg. With so little air remaining Shino scream went silent as he felt Flame begin to scorch his hand. It was slower than the almost instantaneous killing of his other opponent either due to the lack of air, or Flame's low chakra reserves, or possibly because he simply wanted Shino to suffer. Shino's insects shot out of his body and swarmed the man but he ignored the bugs and gave a second to flame up to kill them as Shino felt his fingers burn and slowly lost feeling in the hand.

'It can't end like this!' Shino thought to himself. He felt a weight close to his hand and realized that while some of his insects had distracted Flame the rest had found his sickle and returned it to his left hand. Knowing his hand no choice Shino raised the blade and cut off Flame's arm. He kicked the man away and as he staggered back looking at his missing limb Shino got to his feet and raced forward.

His mind returned to the face of Saya and her village and the guilt, shame and anger he felt at having failed her.

He thought of Haku and the overwhelming agony of feeling her insect die and not know if she lived only to see her heavily injured and kept in forced unconsciousness.

He thought of the rules of his clan about never allowing emotions to control him.

'Just this once. I'll break that rule this just once.' Shino thought as he brought the blade down into Flame's skull.

Shino pulled the blade out as the earth dome crumbled around him. Flame fell noiselessly to the ground and Shino fell backwards onto his back and he took deep and quick breathes of fresh air. As he filled his lungs he also risked a gaze to his left hand. He quickly wished he hadn't and turned away from it.

"Shino!"

Shino wounds and exhaustion was catching up with him and his blurry gaze looked up into Naruto and Hinata's. He gave them a weak thumbs up before passing out. As everything went dark he clearly heard Naruto's voice.

"Good job Shino. Never a doubt"

**(Cloud Village)**

"Find them! They couldn't have gone far!" A the Raikage shouted to his elite ninja. They had come to Bee's hideout only to find the dead and unconscious bodies of the ambush party but no sign of Killer Bee or Yugito. As they continued to follow the path of destruction leading away from the village A felt more and more apprehension.

"Raikage-sama!"

A turned and rushed to where his right hand man Darui and saw the heavily injured but alive form of Yugito.

"Yugito what happened?! Where is Bee?" A said as he kneeled beside the woman.

"Gone Raikage-sama. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hosigaki came. They took out our reinforcements like they were nothing and then turned on us. We couldn't defeated them together I was injured and Bee turned into his demon to protect me. The last thing I remember was Bee grabbing me with one of his tails and telling me to stay safe before hurling me away from the battle. That's all I can remember." Yugito said with a wince at her injuries.

"Return her to the village and get her help. Everyone else move out we must find my brother!" A shouted as Darui slowly cradled Yugito and moved as quickly as he could to the village.

'Bee-san.' Yugito thought in worry before falling unconscious again.

**(Akatsuki)**

"Man that was a great fight!" Kisame said with a huge smirk on his face. The fact that his cloths were bloody and torn to rags didn't seem to faze him any.

"We lost the two tailed cat because of your foolishness Kisame." Itachi said calmly.

"Yeah but she's no threat. We can get here whenever we want. We already took down the big fish." Kisame said as he motioned to the near death Killer Bee that was lying on the giant sword of Kisame and being dragged behind him.

"I wonder if Deidara and that Flame guy captured the Kyuubi. I hope not. I'd love to be the one to bring him in." Kisame wondered out loud at the thought of having another shot at the Kyuubi container with his strange golden chakra as well.

Itachi didn't say anything but he too was thinking about whether or not Naruto had survived his battle and in what shape he would be in. He knew that it was very possible that their leader Pein would mount an assault on Konoha itself if Naruto continued to avoid capture. And if that happened an untold amount of chaos and devastation would befall the village he had sacrificed so much for.

There was also the possibility of the death of a young and annoyingly straight forward ramen server that for some reason refused to leave his mind.

As they entered their cave and dropped the form of Killer Bee for extraction they watch the holograms of Pein, his right hand and partner Konan, and Zetsu appear.

"Pein-sama we have lost the two tailed cat's container but did managed to capture the eight tailed beast." Itachi said.

"Deidara and Flame are dead." Came the soft response of their leader.

"Knew it!" Kisame said with a laugh that quickly died off as the eyes of their leader fell on him.

"Do we have enough members to extract the rest of the demons?" Itachi asked.

"We only need the five of us though the procedure will take much more time. Regardless prepare for the extraction. After it is over I think it's time I enter the battle myself." Pein said darkly as he summoned the giant statue that held the Bijuu. Konan turned to look at him as Kisame's smile again appeared.

"Finally time for the leader to stretch his legs huh? I can't wait to see this." The former ninja of the hidden mist said as the remaining five ninja jumped on top of the fingers of the statue and began their extraction.

**(End)**

**Happy New Year! Here's chapter 20. Sorry for the long wait, again. However a new year means a new commitment from me to get these chapters out at a faster pace. Expect the next one MUCH sooner then this one. **

**Bee is captured. Flame and Deidara are dead. Pein is entering the battle as Team eight finally puts their dark past behind them. What's going to happen next?**

**That is a secret! **

**You won't want to miss it!**

**Till next time, Kyuubi123 out!**


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